F 1961 
.U59 

^°Py ^ REPORTS UNDER CIRCULAR NO. 10. 

DIVISION OF CUSTOMS AND INSULAR AFFAIRS. 



PUERTO RICO, 



EMBRACING THE 



REPORTS OF BRIG. GEN. GEO. W. DAVIS, 

m;ilix^ry g-overnor. 



REPORTS ON THE DISTRICTS OF ARECIBO, AGUADILLA, CAYEY, 

HUMACAO, MAYAGUEZ, PONCE, SAN JUAN, VIEQUES, AND 

THE SUBDISTRICT OF SAN GERMAN. 



ARRANGED BY TOPICS. 



"WA.E, DEFA-RTnyEENT, 

DIVISION OF CUSTOMS AND INSULAR AFFAIRS. 

1899. 



WASHINGTON: 

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE. 

1900. 



REPORTS UNDER CIRCULAR NO. 10. 

DIVISION OF CUSTOMS AND INSULAR AFFAIRS. 



PUERTO RICO, 



EMBRACING THE 



REPORTS OF BRIG. GEN. GEO. W. DAVIS, 



REPORTS ON THE DISTRICTS OF ARECIBO, AGUADILLA, GAYEY, 

HUIACAO, MAYAGUEZ, PONCE, SAN JUAN, VIEQUES, AND 

THE SUBDISTRICT OF SAN GERMAN. 



ARRANGED BY TOPICS. 



/ 
u 



DIVISION OFOUSTOM^ -i.NP' INSULAR AFFAIRS. 

1899. 



WASHINGTON: 

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE. 
1900. 



■pe*''' 



53696 



/ 



Circular No. 10. ) WAR DePARTMENT, 

DlVISION OF Customs AND - -j~^ 7 • / ur l nc -lonn 

Insular Affairs. ) Waslungton, MaTCll 25, 1899. 

Department commanders in Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines 
will report upon present civic conditions in their respective depart- 
ments, and while including the subjects outlined herein will not nec- 
essarily confine investigations to these limits, the object of this circular 
being to obtain the latest reliable information, statistical and other- 
wise, upon th-e existing state of the inhabitants and the natural and 
commercial resources of the islands. 

In order to cover the territory in each military department, regi- 
mental commanders will be required to select one or more competent 
line officers from each camp or post according to the amount of work 
to be accomplished. 

Reports will be forwarded with the least practicable delay, consistent 
with thoroughness, through military'' channels and together with 
reports of regimental, brigade and department commanders will be 
transmitted by governors-general direct to this office. 

Officers making reports will be guided by the following outline of 
subjects: Geographical and physical features, accompanied by avail- 
able maps, prints, and surveys; climate, rainfall, and temperature; 
mineral resources and mines operated ; extent of forests and forest 
trees; character and products of soil; public lands, how held, entered, 
etc.; state of improvements; plantations and farms; principal crops, 
agricultural and horticultural, with markets and value, if known; 
inland transportation facilities ; railroad stocks, where held ; railroads, 
number of miles constructed and proposed; available water power; 
population, known or estimated, character of; available vital statis- 
tics ; private and x)ublic schools ; state of education. Cities and towns ; 
available maps and prints; post-offices; improvements; street rail- 
waj^s; electric lighting; telephone and telegraphic communication; 
water supply; bonded and other indebtedness; sanitary conditions; 
manufactures ; business enterprises ; investment companies and banks ; 
church property; missions and missionaries; prof essions represented ; 
together with general observations as to opiDortunities for investment. 

Department commanders will include, in addition to a resume of 
the foregoing subjects, a general discussion of the civil administra- 
tion of affairs; civil officers with duties and salaries; politics and 
political parties; administration of justice ; system of land tenure and 
conveyances; taxation, assessment and collection of; exchange and 
currency, and will make such suggestions and recommendations for 
reform as will in their opinion promote the general welfare and 
advancement of the inhabitants. 

G. D. Meiklejohn, 

Acting Secretary of War. 
3 



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CO]NDITIO]:^S IN PUERTO RICO. 



Headquarters Department of Puerto Rico, 

San Juan, September 19, 1899. 
Assistant Secretary of War, 

Washington, D. C. 

Sir: In compliance with the requirements of Circular No. 10, Divi- 
sion of Customs and Insular Affairs, dated March 25, 1899, I have the 
honor to transmit the reports of Capt. A. C. Macomb, district of 
Arecibo; Maj. F. W. Mansfield, district of Aguadilla; Capt. F. W. 
Foster, district of Cayey; Capt. C. E. Dentler, district of Humacao; 
Maj. Earl D. Thomas, district of Mayaguez; First Lieut. H. E. 
Eames, district of Ponce; First Lieut, James J. Hornbrook, district 
of San German; First Ljeut. A. C. Blunt, district of San Juan; Capt. 
Z. B. Vance, district of Vieques. 

I regret that these reports could not be sooner transmitted, but my 
time has been so constantly absorbed with a multituue of pressing 
daily duties that I have not been able to make the presentation. 

The following comments have been prepared by Maj. William A. 
Glassford, U. S. V. , and will also be found in my annual report to the 
Adjutant- General of the Armj^, dated August 15, 1899, and which I 
adopt as my own. 

Since this memorandum was prepared the island was visited by a 
storm of exceptional violence, which has devastated a large part of 
the same and has destroyed a large amount of property. The imme- 
diate effect is to render homeless and destitute a large number of 
human beings. The incidental effect is to curtail importations, there- 
fore the revenue. It is now a serious problem, the raising of revenues 
adequate to the maintenance of orderly government. 

The transition through which the island is passing, that is, the 
change of governmental methods from Spanish to American, was 
progressing satisfactorily, but the situation was vastly complicated 
by the destruction, in a few hours, of more than half the producing 
power of the people and their capacity for self-support for the time 
being. 

Very respectfully, Geo. W. Davis, 

Brigadier- General, Conmianding. 



CIVIC CONDITIONS. 



district of aguadilla. 



(See report on political parties and last part of report on vital 
statistics.) 

Captain Mansfield says : If all could get employment of course the 
condition of the masses would be improved. Just at present (May 30, 
1899) the question of money exchange has much to do with the condi- 
tion of the working classes, for rates of exchange among the ignorant 

5 



6 CONDITIONS IN PUERTO RICO 

are simply rates of robbery and extortion. I have sympathy and hojie 
for tlie people at large and believe they will be all right if furnished 
with the means of edncation (in its broadest sense) of all kinds and 
with proper instructors till they can furnish their own, and if, in the 
meantime the politicians of the old parties in the island are suppressed. 

DISTRICT OF MAYAGUEZ. 

Major Thomas, reporting without date (probably May or June, 1890) 
says: 

The xDopulation is increasing fast. In a few years this island will 
be overcrowded. No immigration from the adjacent islands should be 
allowed or encouraged. Only Americans should be permitted to come 
here and enter into business. All other classes, kinds and color should 
be excluded from this time forward. 

The present rates for labor are, to the mind of an American, ridicu- 
lously small. Da3^ laborers working ten hours per day have hereto- 
fore only been receiving from 37 to as high as 75 cents per day; 50 
cents per day being the standard price, or it was until recently. I 
understand that the wages are being increased, that is, the laborers 
are demanding much or rather some money in advance of present 
prices, 75 cents a day or even as high as $1 in provincial money being 
asked. 

Recent orders limit the day's laboring work to eight hours all over 
the island. 

The people here are a hard-working class so far as my observation 
goes, board themselves, live on a mere mite and squander their mone}' 
as fast as earned. They are specially expert in working cane and 
tobacco lands and do excellently well in coffee and fruit cultivation. 
One can get plenty of laborers at any and all times, something over 
1,000 being employed on the roads of the District alone. The tropical 
sun does not seem to affect them in any way and thej^ keep going the 
livelong day, always at work and never idle except on holidays and 
feast days when they never lift a hand no matter how urgent or how 
much danger there is to the crops. 

DISTRICT OF SAN JUAN. 

Lieutenant Blunt, under date of May 12, 1899, says : The people gen- 
erally are quiet and industrious; the climate is enervating, the ground 
almost self -producing; naturally the inhabitants are lazy and easy- 
going. The statistics show a small proportion of murders and crimes 
against women. Robbery and sneak stealing are common. 

DISTRICT OF VIEQUES. 

Captain Yance reports: The civic conditions are decidedlj' bad 
although probably as good as might be expected, taking into consid- 
eration the fact that they still have to adhere to old Spanish obsolete 
laws and that they can not quite rid themselves of the Spanish idea 
that public office is for the benefit of the holders thereof instead of 
that of the people. They do not yet know how to govern themselves, 
and will not for a long time to come. 

The principal proprietors here with one exception are foreigners 
and though principally interested in the government of the island 
have no voice in it. 

The exception referred to has managed to have his own men elected 
to the council and all of his relatives to most of the municipal offices 



CONDITIONS IN PUERTO RICO. 7 

and tlie other property owners claim that he is running everything in 
his own interest. With two exceptions there are no representative 
men on the council who are not related to or under some obligation 
to this proprietor. Two or three can not read or write. Some such 
situation as this can hardly be avoided until Congress passes some 
law for the government of the island and the people begin to show a 
proper public spirit. 

To illustrate the way public officials perform their duties, I will 
state the case of the town doctor here. He is employed by the town 
to look after the poor. His "looking after" consists of standing in 
the drug store and writing a prescription from the messenger's (father, 
mother, or whoever it may be) description of the symptoms without 
thinking of seeing the patient. Therefore, about the only care the 
sick poor get is that given by Dr. Le Compte, the post surgeon. 
Fortunately this is a very healthy island. 

A case of smallpox was reported in the vicinity and upon inquiry I 
found that this distinguished town doctor had sent what he calls his 
assistant (a nurse in the town hospital) to go and diagnose the case. 
I finally persuaded him to go himself. 

The police are of no account whatever but fortunately the people 
are docile and easy to manage as far as disorder is concerned. 

There are three different elements in the town, the Spaniards, the 
natives and about 1,000 English-speaking negroes who have been 
imported from the neighboring islands to harvest the sugar-cane crops. 
The Spaniards hate the natives and vice versa and they are both after 
the negro. The natives are lazj^ and indolent and will not work and 
do not want to see the negroes work. The latter are better laborers 
and more provident, though a good many of them are decidedly shift- 
less and liable to give trouble if not kept in hand. 

As I have said before the best element here is composed of foreign- 
ers and it is a pity some of them can not be ]3ut on the council as they 
show far more spirit and enterprise than the natives. 

The lower class of natives are ignorant, indolent and improvident, 
resembling very much the North American Indian vvithout his cour- 
age. They make a dollar and then stop work uiltil it is all gone. 
There is no lack of work here. The planters would give them all the 
work they wanted if they were at all reliable and would stick to it. 
As I have said above the former have to import negroes to harvest 
their crops. 

The conditions of the island of Culebra are about the same as they 
are in Vieques. 



GEOGRAPHICAL AND PHYSICAL FEATURES. 

DISTRICT OF ARECIBO. 

Captain Macomb reports : 

GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF ISLAND AND GEOLOGY. 

Puerto Rico the most eastern and smallest of the Greater Antilles, 
lies some 60 miles east of Haiti, between the meridians of 65° 15' and 
67° 15' west of Greenwich and the parallels of 17° 50' and 18° 45' N. 

General shape is a parallelogram, 95 hy 35 miles ; area, approximately 
3,670 square miles, being 500 miles less than Jamaica and about 300 



8 CONDITIONS IN PUERTO RICO. 

less than the State of Connecticut. The coast Hue is some 360 miles. 
Its outline presents the appearance of an almost geometrically regular 
parallelogram nearly three times as long as broad, with its four sides 
following" the four cardinal directions. Unlike Cuba, its sea line is 
but little indented ; its coast is generally low and possesses but few 
fringing reefs. 

It is essentially a mountainous country and has been likened to the 
soldier's campaign hat the crown being the uplifted center and the 
rim the coast plains. The central mountain region is cut and worn 
by the heavy rains, and only the extreme tenacity of its red clay soil 
has prevented its destruction. 

This mountain region constitutes some nine-tenths of the surface of 
the island. The whole island is practically an elongated and elevated 
sierra, surrounded by a narrow collar or dado of limestone hills, for- 
merly marginal marine incrustations which have been elevated. 

Viewed from the sea these mountains have a rugged and serrated 
aspect, consisting of numerous peaks and summits void of a definite 
crest line, rising' from a general mass whose steeply sloping sides are 
deeply corrugated by drainage- ways, so that they have the aspect of 
a wrinkled pocket handkerchief, a figure of description ascribed to 
Columbus in telling Queen Isabella of the Antilles. Their superfice 
has been etched by erosion into innumerable gabled lateral ridges 
(cuchillas), separated by deep V-shaped valleys. (From Geologist 
Hill.) 

The main watershed of the island extends generally east and west 
and lying, as it does, south of the center, the rapid slope is to the 
south and a more gradual descent to the north coast. This naturally 
gives the southern side short, rapid streams and the larger rivers to 
the northern slope. 

Another cause for this difference is that the prevailing wind being 
from the northeast, the greater rainfall is on the northern slope of the 
mountains. 

The geology of the island is very similar to and comparable with 
that of Cuba. 

Puerto Rico is the eastern extension of the Antillean uplift seen in 
Cuba and Santo Domingo. 

It was once the site of active volcanic work and the greater part of 
its mass is composed of igneous rock. 

Then subsidences of various durations occurred permitting the 
water sorting of much of its encircling limestone. 

The soil of the mountain areas is frequently a tremendously sticky 
red clay, formed from the decomposition of volcanic rock. 

The bottoms, the plains along the coasts, are generally alluvial 
near the mouths of rivers. In other cases they are formed by the 
decomposition of the lime rock. These two soils are dark brown or 
black, similar to the "black waxy" soil of Texas near Dallas. 

At present these plains are used altogether for sugar-cane and pas- 
ture lands. 

The more sandy soils are used for tobacco and such vegetables as 
the batata, a rather poor variety of the sweet potato. 

It is customary to say that the cofi'ee plant can only be profitably cul- 
tivated on the higher ground — say at an elevation of 500 feet. But in 
truth the whole island, plains and all, was given over to coflEee raising 
some years [ago], and only when the flood of Brazilian coffee broke 
the market were the plains again devoted to the cultivation of sugar 
cane and coffee banished to its present home, the steeply sloping 
lands of the interior. 



CONDITIONS IN PUERTO EICO. 9 

Under the heading "Available Maps" Captain Macomb says: (1) 
Outline map of Puerto Rico published by the War Department, 
Adjutant-General's Office, 1899, scale 1/150,000 (about 2^ miles to 1 
inch). This map is to be filled out by army officers. Coast to be 
corrected by Coast Survey, U. S.,and will be the only reliable 
map of the island. (2) "Island of Puerto Rico, New Territorv, 
U. S. A.," by J. M. Lago, 1898, printed by Colton, Oham & Co., New 
York. Scale about 2f inches to mile. This map has many inaccu- 
racies and omissions. 

Maps of the various towns are in course of preparation by me, but 
owing to the press of other business, not completed. A map of the 
town of Arecibo is submitted.^ It is a reduction of a large map on 
file in the Alcalde's office, originally made in 1867. 

An original map of the port and harbor is herewith submitted.^ It 
was made with cavalry sketching case and is not to be depended upon 
for accurate estimates. 

DISTRICT OF ARECIBO. 

Captain Macomb reports : 

The districts of Arecibo, Hatillo, Camuy, Quebradillas, and Isabela 
lie along the north coast in the order given from east to west. From 
the capital, San Juan, there extends westward along the coast a beau- 
tiful plain, varying in width from 2 to 5 miles. 

Just west of the town of Arecibo this plain becomes narrower and 
the wagon road and the railroad are pushed out along the coast. 

At the Camuy River the plain widens out slightly. East of Manati 
this plain is sandy and its surface is broken by occasional detached 
hills. But generalh'^ it is very fertile and given over to the cultiva- 
tion of sugar cane. 

Just west of Camuy the ground rises into a mesa or plateau that 
extends westward through Isabela and swings south through Agua- 
diUa. 

Through this entire plateau the formation is limestone. Its surface 
is rolling, but not broken, except where the Guajataca River breaks 
through, cutting a deep gorge and exposing the various strata. About 
4 miles west of Camuy a gently sloping valley occurs and is utilized 
for the production of sugar cane. 

The plains are used for cane growing unless they are very sandy; 
the sloping ground slightly back from the sea for tobacco^ pasturage, 
bananas, and for small fruits. The steep limestone hills are not gen- 
erally used, though capable of producing coffee. The more sandy 
plains are used for the batata (a species of sweet potato), peanuts, 
cocoanut palms, and frequently for tobacco of a poor quality. 

Back of the hill barrier or plateau edge that forms the south limit 
of the coastal plain the limestone surface continues broken and irregu- 
lar, cut up by small valleys, until some 12 miles from the north coast 
the volcanic rock of the interior of the island is encountered. This 
rock has weathered into a soil tough and tenacious, generally of a red 
color, and is typical coffee land. Nevertheless it is capable of pro- 
ducing delicious fruits, and every coffee farm raises without cultiva- 
tion sufficient oranges, pineapples, mangoes, plantains, and bananas 
for home consumption. 

^ Not received with report. 

" Not received with report at War Department. 



CONDITIONS IN PUERTO RICO. 



JURISDICTION OF ARECIBO. 



The district of Arecibo is a rich and fertile one, perhaps not second 
to any one in the island. Ljing as it does along the north coast, it 
receives the constant northeast breezes. It is divided centrallj^ by 
the great cut of the Rio Grande, which pours out its abundant waters 
over its rich coast plain, rendering the use of fertilizers unnecessary. 
This river gorge or valley forms a natural pass to the interior of the 
island, and is being examined with a view to constructing an electric 
railway from Arecibo»to Ponce via Utuado and Adjuntas. The Rio 
Grande receives from the southwest the river Tanama, which joins 
the main stream some 4 miles south of the town of Arecibo. 

From the east the Rio Arecibo, near the southern limit of the dis- 
trict, receives the Rio Limou and the Rio Caunilla. All these streams 
are of rajjid fall and furnish a never failing power. - 

West of Arecibo, in the Camuy district, is the Camuy River, 
another mountain stream, furnishing abundant water and i)ower. It 
rises southeast of ' Lares, flows northerly to the sea, cutting deeply 
through its limestone walls. Through a jpart of its course it passes 
under the unbroken limestone and becomes a lost river. 

Forming the boundary between the jurisdictions of Quebradillas 
and Isabela is the Guajataca River, another mountain stream of rapid 
fall and abundant flow. 

Generally these rivers flow through narrow valleys of steep descent, 
not affording much flat surface suitable for cane cultivation. 

DISTRICT OF AGUADILLA. 

Captain Mansfield reports: The boundaiy of the district (jurisdic- 
tion) of Aguadilla is as follows : Beginning at the mouth of the Gua- 
jataca River, in the northeast corner, proceed westerly 12 miles to a 
point near Borrinquen; thence southwesterly through the town of 
Aguadilla 14 miles to a point south of the village of Rincon ; thence 25 
miles eastward by the Rio Prieto, just north of the village of Las 
Marias ; thence northwestwardly 20 miles to a point near Lares, and 
along the Guajataca River to place of beginning. 

The district contains between 250 and 275 square miles. The coun- 
try is mostly mountainous and hilly, especially in the interior. Some 
of the mountains rise to an elevation of 2,000 or more feet. Along the 
north coast the country is rolling and more or less open for 4 or 5 miles 
from the mountains to the sea. Along the west coast the Jiacao 
Mountains extend to the sea at and near Aguadilla, leaving little open 
country. 

The southwest section of the district, in the vicinity of the village 
<:>f Aguada, is more or less open and rolling. The northeastern, east- 
ern, and southeastern sections of the district are almost entirely 
mountainous. The Guajataca River, in the northeast, and the Cule- 
brina River, in the southwest, are the largest streams and have their 
sources in the vicinity of Lares. 

The Rio Prieto and Rio Blanco (the two main branches of the 
Anasco) also flow through the southeastern section of the district. 
There are several branches of the Culebriena and Guajataca, which 
have their sources in the vicinity of Lares. So that the eastern and 
southeastern portions of the district are Avell watered. 

This is not the case in the northern and northwestern sections, 



CONDITIONS IN PUERTO RICO. 11 

where the country is wholly dependent upon rains and on a few wells, 
cisterns, and artificial pools. 

DISTRICT OP CAYEY. 

Captain Foster, under date of June 28, reports: This district is 
mountainous, the highest mountains being about 2,500 feet above the 
sea. The city itself is about 1,100 feet above the sea. 

DISTRICT OP HUMACAO. 

Captain Dentler, under date of May 16, 1899, says: 

The district of Humacao occupies the entire eastern end of the island. 
The coast line is very irregular, there being numerous small streams 
flowing into the ocean and a great number of arms of the sea indent- 
ing the land. There are several fairly good liarbors on the coast, nota- 
bly the one near Ceiba, where an arm of the sea from 1^ to 2 miles 
long and one-half mile wide, with deep water and surrounded by high 
and rock}^ hills, forms one of the best natural harbors on this coast. 

The entire district is very mountainous, the highest points of the 
Luquillo Mountains being in the northwestern part of this district, and 
the whole region is a succession of mountains and valleys. 

Available maps and prints. — There are not many, and it is extremely 
diflacult to obtain them. Many, if not the majority, of these, when 
obtained, are found to be incorrect in many of their details. 

DISTRICT OP MAYAGUEZ. 

Major Thomas, without date, reports: 

Mayaguez is situated near the western extremity of the island of 
Puerto Rico and is the third city in importance of the island. The 
district of Mayaguez embraces a jurisdiction of nearly 30,000 inhabit- 
ants, mostly white, and comprises the terrane between the mountains 
of Cerro Gordo on the west and the Anasco Mountains on the north 
and east. 

This district extends from the west coast of the island to the head 
waters of the Culebrinas River, 6 miles west of Maricao and from the 
central plantation, "Corsica," on the north to the Royal Port (Puerto 
Real) near Cabo Rojo and Guanica bay on south. In this district are 
found streams (rivers), three principal ranges of mountains covered 
with an undergrowth of timber rising in altitude at different points 
from 600 to 800 feet above the sea level. It also comprises a large 
number of valleys (vegas) upon which are cultivated cane, rice, beans, 
and small fruit' in great abundance. The valleys are intersected by 
an innumerable nuniber of small streams, furnishing an abundant 
supply of fresh water' for industrial and agricultural purposes. 

The principal mountain ranges are the Aiiasco, Ilormigueros, Cerro 
Gordo and Cabo Rojo. 

The rivers are Aiiasco, Yaguez, Caiion, Estero, Rio Vigo, Rosario, 
Guanajibo, and Rio Grande, all of which increase in volume during 
the rainy season, lasting from June to and including October. 

Lieutenant Hornbrook reports: The territory embraced in this com- 
mand includes the jurisdictions of San German, Sabana Grande, Lajas, 
and Cabo Rojo, in the extreme southwest corner of the island; all are 
embraced in the judicial jurisdiction of San German. The country is 
mostty mountainous. One range of mountains runs from Cabo Rojo 



12 CONDITIONS IN PUERTO RICO. 

to Sabana Grande in easterly direction. It varies in height from 200 to 
700 feet. Another range runs from Maricao, in southeasterly direc- 
tion, toward Sahana Grande. It is somewhat higher than the above- 
mentioned range. The highest peak, northeast from San German, is 
called "Las Titas del Cerro Gordo." Between the two ranges is a 
valley, through which flows the Rio Grande, starting north from Sabana 
Grande and emptying into the sea about a mile south of Maj^aguez. 
On this river are situated the towns of San German and Sabana Grande. 
Another range of mountains is east of Sabana Grande, running from 
north to south. The west coast is mountainous. The south coast 
is low. 

DISTRICT OF PONCE. 

Lieutenant Eames, under date of May, 1899, says: 

The district of Ponce covers about one-third of the island of Puerto 
Rico and lies on the south coast a little west of the center and between 
the districts of Mayaguez on the west and Guayama on the east. It 
is very irregular in shape, having artificial boundaries, except on the 
south or coast line. It is, roughly speaking, about 20 miles broad and 
45 miles long and contains about 900 square miles. 

The surface of the district is very diversified, .being generally flat 
near the coast and rising gradually toward the north. Here the surface 
is very rough and mountainous, but containing also deep and fertile 
valleys, which are highly cultivated. 

The two highest points in the district are Mounts Guilarte, 3,540 
feet, and Soraanta, 3,231 feet, each of which is about 15 miles from 
the coast, and from their tops are seen the flnest views on the island, 
rendering the cities at their bases, Adjuntas and Aibonito, famous for 
their scenery. 

There are several good harbors in the district, the best three being 
at Playa de Ponce, Guanica, and Guayanilla, and of these Guanica 
has perhaps the best, being very deep and well sheltered, though not 
large. 

The district is traversed by many small streams rising in the moun- 
tains and flowing generally southward, some 12 or 18 miles, to the sea. 
The Rio Tallaboa, near Tallaboa and Penuelas; the Rio Portugues, 
near Ponce ; the Rio Coamo, near St. Isabel and Coamo, are probably 
the largest of these rivers and never go dry, as do many of the others 
during the dry season. 

The volume of water in even these is very variable, and when at their 
lowest stage it amounts to but very little indeed, while at their high- 
est stage they are great rivers, with all of the characteristics of typical 
tropical streams — sudden, devastating rises; muddy, drift-covered 
currents, that change in but a few hours to placid, clear-flowing brooks. 

DISTRICT OF SAN .JUAN. 

Lieutenant Blunt reports under date of May 12, 1899: 
The district to be covered b}^ this report is about 60 kilometers long 
by 20 kilometers wide, with elevations up to about 1,400 feet. It is 
bounded on the north by the ocean and on the other sides by other 
districts. The shore line, extending generally east and west, is mostly 
a sandy beach with little elevation above the sea. On the island of 
San Juan rocks of modern times appear with some coral formations, 



CONDITIONS IN PUERTO RICO. 13 

and make a bluff, rising about 90 feet. Just west of the island of 
San Juan is the only break in the shore line, giving entrance to an 
extensive bay, affording a fine harbor. There is, of course, an eastern 
entrance to same bay, which is understood to have been used in early 
days; it is now shoal, but could be dredged to any depth. The other 
bays along the shore are merely open anchorages with good bottoms 
and smooth beaches, on which landings can be made bj^ lighters. 

Leaving the flats along the shore line and around San Juan Bay, 
the land rises in abrupt hills, deeply washed by the heavy rains, the 
river valleys here being narrow. Beyond this the valleys widen out 
again at a general elevation of about 300 feet, and the rivers, with 
many branches, rise in the hills near the southern line of the district. 
This section is the coffee district, and is very well watered and fertile. 

The rios (rivers) all flow to the north and are, except within a few 
miles of the shore, fordable at low water, but rise very quickly after 
rain. 

One of the noticeable features is the absence of forests on the hills. 
There are scattered groups of trees, but no continuous woods on anj' 
hills in this section, neither is there any growth of timber trees at any 
point. 

DISTRICT OF VIEQUES. 

Captain Vance reports : This district consists of the islands of Vie- 
ques and Culebra and a few outlying keys. The former is about 21 
miles in length by an average of 4|^ in width, containing 90 square 
miles, and has a poi)ulation of 5,000 or 6,000. 

Culebra, 20 miles north of Vieques, has about 40 square miles and 
800 or 900 inhabitants. The adjoining islands are uninhabited and 
inconsiderable in size. 

In regard to geographical features, the country is mountainous, 
with few, if any, valleys or plains, but exceedingly fertile. 

The physical features of the island of Culebra are about the same 
as thej^ are in Vieques. 



CLIMATE AND RAINFALL. 

PUERTO RICO AS AN ISLAND. 

Major Glassford makes no report. 

Captain Macomb, in his report on Arecibo, speaking of the island, 
says: The wind being from the northeast, a greater rainfall is given 
to the northern slope of the mountains. This rainfall varies from 120 
inches annually in the northeast corner of the island to probably 40 
inches in the southwest. But the entire island is wet com]3ared with 
the United States, as, in addition to the rains, the mountains are fre- 
quently bathed in mists. 

Irrigation is practiced in the south, in the neighborhood of Ponce, 
where of late years, it is said, the rainfall has been decreasing. (The 
ditches one sees at every 15 feet in sugar-cane fields are not to bring 
water in, but to carry it off.) 

The Weather Bureau has established itself here and accurate notes 
on the general weather conditions will be forthcoming. The seasons 
in this evergreen island are not marked by decided changes in tem- 
perature, but by variations in the rainfall. 



14 CONDITIONS IN PUERTO EICO. 

At present ouly such a general description can be given as follows: 



Month. 



January 



Rainfall. 



First half considerable: sec- 
ond half slight. 



Temperature. 



Remarks. 



February . 
March 

April 



May. 



June ... 
July 

August - 



Pleasant, cool High seas; season of the 

Norte; harbors — north 
coast— danger oils. 

Dry j Pleasant.-- -.- 

Very dry . - - - - . ! do 

First halt dry; second half j do. 

slight rain. 

Cooled by showers, 

warm. 
/Warmest months of 
\ the year. 
Warm 



Considerable 
showers. 

Not much rain 



rain; heavy 



September.. 

October 

November .- 
December--. 



First half slight; second 
half considerable. 

Bluch rain j Pleasant 

Heavy rains I do . . . 

.do - Cool 



-do. 



-do 



High seas; season of the 
Norte; harbors — north 
coast — dangerous. 



Everj^ month has occasional hot days, hut these days are only 
exhausting to those who must be out working. The breeze from the 
sea is almost unfailing. Nights sufficiently cool for comfort (and 
generally for a blanket) are the almost invariable rule. 

DISTRICT OF AGUADILLA. 

Ca]3tain Mansfield reports: As there are or have been no instru- 
ments for measuring the rainfall, there is no means of knowing exactly 
what it is, except that during the period from January 1, 1899, to May 
31, 1S99, 8.13 inches fell at Isabela; tliey have had a rain gauge there 
since January 1, 1899. This covers the drj- season, and is in a dry 
locality, where drought prevails to a great extent at some seasons. 
However, from my observations, I do not think it can be less than 60 
inches per annum. 

The rainy season is from May to November, although it rains some 
at other seasons. The rain generally falls between 12 o'clock noon 
and 5 p. m. and is usually very heaw. It probably does not rain 
more than two-thirds as much at Aguadilla as at other places, espe- 
cially in the interior, where tlie rains are very heavy. 

The mean temperature is 77° F. I have myself observed the tem- 
perature at Aguadilla for some months. The temperature is lower in 
the eastern part of the district than elsewhere, on account of the greater 
elevation. 

The climate is comj)aratively healthy and salubrious, and during a 
nine months' stay in this locality I have had no occasion to notice any 
unusual amount of sickness — no more than would have occurred in a 
town of the same size in our country under ordinary conditions, but 
from different causes. 

DISTRICT OF CAYEY. 



Captain Foster reports : The climate is pleasant and eciuable, the 
highest temperature for the last two months (report is dated June 28, 
1899) being 91°, the lowest 62°, and the average 7<3°; the rainfall for 
the months of Mav and June to date being 17.5 inches. 



CONDITIONS IN PUERTO RICO. 15 

DISTRICT OP HUMACAO. 

Captain Dentler, under date of May 16, 1899, says: The climate is 
warm, the thermometer standing at 80° in the shade in February and 
S^° in the middle of May. Along the entire seacoast the heat is tem- 
pered by cool easterly winds, which blow almost incessantly along the 
seashore and among the hills. No record of rainfall or of tempera- 
ture has been made at this post. 

DISTRICT OF MAYAGUEZ. 

Major Thomas makes report without date, as follows : The climate 
is very fine for a trojDical one. Cool breezes and daih^ rains moderate 
the excessive midday heat, causing comfortable nights, rather cool 
than otherwise. The ocean breeze is also an important factor in the 
daily meteorological calculations. There is not any way of ascertain- 
ing the changes in temperature for a number of years, no records hav- 
ing been kept. The rainfall is excessive during the rainy season, 
nearty every afternoon ; the rains frequently pouring in torrents, as 
though every cloud in the heavens was sending its waters to the same 
localitj'. No accurate account of the rainfall for each year has been 
kept. If it has for this district, I could not find it. 

The alcalde of Mayaguez, speaking of that jurisdiction, says in a 
supplement to Major Thomas's report: Its climate is mild. The rainy 
season generally lasts nine months, the rainfall amounting in some 
years from 2.10 to 2.20 meters (82.68* to 86.62 inches) and in other 
years from 1.50 to 1.70 meters (59.05 to 66.93 inches). 

SUBDISTRICT OF SAN GERMAN. 

Lieutenant Hoxnbrook reports : The climate is trojjical, moderated, 
liowever, by a fresh breeze. No records are available in regard to 
rainfall and temperature. 

DISTRICT OF PONCE. 

Lieutenant Eames reports : There are many kinds of climate at the 
same period of the year in different parts of the district; distance 
from the coast, with its consequent increase of altitude, determining 
the climate of any particular point, but the year is commonly divided 
into two seasons, the wet and the dry, which are, roughly speaking, 
synchronous with the summer and winter of the IJnited States. 

The wet, or rainy, season extends commonly from May 1, gradually 
increasing in violence until about the middle of September, and then 
decreasing more rapidh^ until about December 1. 

At Ponce during the dry season, or from December to May, the air 
is very dry and hot during the daj'time, while the nights are cool and 
pleasant. The excessive amount of moisture in the atmosphere dur- 
ing the rainy season makes the really moderate temperature seem verj^ 
much greater, and it is during this period that most of the sickness 
occurs, and, the climate is particularly hard on those not acclimated. 

The maximum temperature of Ponce ranges from 80° in the winter 
to 95° in the summer, while that of Adjuntas or Aibonito ranges from 
70° to 80° ; but with this decrease in temperature comes also increase 
of rainfall and humidity of atmosphere, so that the days seem as hot 
as in Ponce, while the nights seem much cooler. 



16 CONDITIONS IN PUERTO RICO, 

There are no statistical records from which the amount of rainfall 
can be ascertained, but at Juana Diaz, which has an average rainfall 
for the district, it is estimated to be about 60 inches annually. It is 
much less than this at Ponce, probably not more than 25 inches, if as 
much as that, while at Aibonito it rains nearly every day in the year, 
and the rainfall is nearer 100 inches than the 60 inches of Juana Diaz. 

DISTRICT OF SAN JUAN. 

Lieutenant Blunt reports: The climate is subtropical, two seasons, 
the dry and the wet, with a variation of about 10° F. between the 
means for July and January. San Juan has an average mean temper- 
ature of 84° F. in summer and about 73° in winter. The country 
generally is cooler, but along the shore west of San Juan it is reported 
hotter. The rainy season, May to November, means daily heavy and 
continued rains. The dry season is not absolutely dry, as in the San 
Joaquin Valley, but has occasional rains. As a result, the crops are 
almost continuous, and even under the present imperfect cultivation 
are very large. 

DISTRICT OF VIEQUES. 

Captain Vance reports : The rainy season of the island extends from 
May to the latter part of September. There is no record of the amount 
of rainfall ijrevious to January [1899]. During January, February, 
and March, 1899, the average was 2.9 inches per month. There are 
also no records of the temperature previous to January, but since 
that time it has been: Maximum mean temperature: Januarj^, 78.07°; 
February, 83.07°; March, 81.03°. Minimum mean: January, 70.05°; 
February, 68.05°; March, 68°. 

On the island of Culebra there is no cistern large enough to supply 
the inhabitants with water, and sometimes during the dry season they 
have to send over to the island of Vieques for water. 



MINERAL RESOURCES AND MINES OPERATED. 

PUERTO RICO AS AN ISLAND. 

Major Glassford makes no report. 

DISTRICT OF ARECIBO. 

Captain Macomb reports: No mines in district. Coal is reported 
near Aguadilla-Moco road near latter town; said to be iine coal; not 
inspected. 

Various deposits of bat guano reported in large caves, which are 
not unusual in limestone plateau south of Isabela and Quebradillas. 

Also phosphatic rock in Isabela district. 

DISTRICT OP AGUADILLA. 

Captain Mansfield reports: Of mines there are none, but it is 
believed that there is coal in the vicinity of Moco and San Sebastian, 
and some suppose copper and iron may be found. Calc spar and lime- 
atone abound. There are no renorts of other minerals. 



CONDITIONS IN PUERTO RICO. ' 17 

DISTRICT OF CAYEY. 

Cajjtain Foster reports, under date of June 28, 1899, as follows: 
The district has no known mineral resources except building and 
limestone. 

DISTRICT OF HUMACAO. 

Captain Dentler, under date of May 16, 1899, says: There are two 
mines, one of iron and one of copjDer, both prospecting and develop- 
ing, worked by one Mr. Arguesso. There are also four more mines, 
two of copper and two of gold, situated in Naguabo and Luquillo. 

This part of the island is, without any doubt, the most important 
part for mineral resources. In the towns of Luquillo and Fajardo, up 
to this date, the poor people of the country make a living by washing- 
gold picked out of the river. 

DISTRICT OF MAYAGUEZ. 

Major Thomas makes report (without date) as follows : There are 
no mines, so far as known, in this district; possibly future prospecting 
may lead to the discover}^ of valuable gold mines, as it is well known 
as a fact that mineral exists in paying quantities in certain localities 
of the island. The river Yaguez, which divides the town of Maj'a- 
guez in two parts, was at one time the locality where gold was found, 
its sands yielding gold in considerable quantities. But none is now 
found and there is now no indication of the existence of placer min- 
ing. Copper, iron, and coal mines are found on the island, not, how- 
ever, in this district. 

The alcalde of Mayaguez, referring to that jurisdiction, says in a 
supplement to Major Thomas's report : Within the jurisdiction of 
Mayaguez there are no mines, although some carbonates of iron are 
supposed to exist. 

The alcalde of Cabo Rojo, speaking of that jurisdiction, in a sup- 
plement to the report of Major Thomas, says: Mines — None of any 
kind have so far been discovered, although it is assumed they do 
exist ; also coal and sulphur. The salt pits are very i^roductive when 
windmills can be used for raising the water. 

SUBDISTRICT OF SAN GERMAN. 

Lieutenant Hornbrook reports : Mineral resources are very poor and 
not developed. 

DISTRICT OF PONCE. 

Lieutenant Eames reports (prior to May 12, 1899): 
There are no mines operated in the district, although it is intended 
to open large deposits of phosphates which are known to exist on an 
island south of Ponce, as soon as the necessarj^ machinery can be 
brought from the States. Owing to a Spanish prohibition no mines 
have been developed in the district, but near Ponce and on the sur- 
face are large deposits of pyrites, claimed to be auriferous, although 
this claim has never been investigated. Claims are also made of 
deposits of iron, copper, and gold, but these claims have never been 
substantiated. 

(Speaking of the city of Ponce) — The largest if not the only deposit 
of phosphates on the island is at its very door, on Muerto Island, at 
the harbor entrance. 



18 CONDITIONS IN PUERTO RICO. 

DISTRICT OF SAN JUAN. 

Lieutenant Blunt reports: 

There seem to be no mineral deposits in this district and no mines 
operated. I heard of copper in the hill regions, but the outcropping 
rock gives no indication of it. The want of iron and coal means very 
limited manufacturing interests. 

Corosal and Ton Alta. — At Corosal copper has been found in small 
quantities. Improved mining facilities might develop paying quan- 
tities, particularly as copper is daily becoming more valuable in 
electrical matters. 



EXTENT OF FORESTS AND FOREST TREES. 

DISTRICT OF ARECIBO. 

Captain Macomb reports : No forests in these districts. Scattering 
trees through districts on plateau, generally small. Native woods — 
generally in direction of Utuado — aceitillo, maga iiegra, hortegon, very 
hard. 

DISTRICT OF AGUADILLA. 

Major Mansfield reports : There is some timber, but not a great deal, 
and most building material is brought from the United States. About 
33 per cent of the country is wooded or covered with bushes and trees 
of second growth. Trees fit for timber are the capa sabano, capa 
j)rieto-guaraguao, roble, algarrobo, granadillo, laurel, guama, mamey 
sagua, diguerillo, and others. Considerable lumber is manufactured 
from the trees named. I have not seen a lumber or saw mill of any 
kind in the district, and lumber is manufactured by hand. There is 
plenty of firewood, which varies somewhat in prices, but usually sells 
at 13 per cord, American mone3'. I have seen no stoves in use any- 
where, and think they should be introduced as an economical and 
hygienic measure. Most of the woodland and such timber as there is 
is in the southeastern section of the district. 

DISTRICT OF CAYEY. 

Cai^tain Foster reports : The hills, when uncultivated, are covered 
with a growth of small forest trees, principally valuable for firewood. 

DISTRICT OF HUMACAO. 

Captain Dentler reports : The forests are very few and scattered, 
and the lumber obtained is not of the best quality. 

DISTRICT OF PONCE. 

Lieutenant Fames reports : There are no extensive forests in the 
dislrict, it being largely under cultivation. There are, however, many 
individual trees of original forest growth, such as mahoganj^, ebonj^, 
lignum-vitfB, cedar, and tachuelo and ausubo, both of the latter being 
valuable cabinet woods. 



CONDITIONS IN PUERTO RICO. 19 

Tachuelo is somewhat heavier than ebony, has the general appear- 
ance of mahoganj^ but much stronger and of greater crnsliing and 
tensile strength. It is used mostly for Avood requiring large sticks, 
because of its hardness and the difficulty of working with it, it being 
impossible to drive a nail of anj^ moderate size into a piece of this 
wood. 

Most of the wood used in building is imported pine or spruce and 
comes largelj^ from Norway. It commands a large price, though 
usually inferior to the same woods from the United States. Pine 
"thirds" that could be bought in the States for 18 per thousand feet 
sell here for 835, Puerto Rican^currency, or about $20 gold. 

DISTRICT OF MAYAGUEZ. 

Major Thomas reports : The forest and forest trees are found along 
the base and sides of the mountains and what would be called the 
"foothills," not extensive or of sufficient quantity or in a convenient 
locality to cause more than a iDassing thought as to the formation of 
an industry devoted entirely to the milling, cutting, and marketing 
of native timber as an investment, permanent or temporary. Near 
Cabo Rojo all the native woods can be seen at a small cane (walking 
stick) manufactory, hand work entirely. This is the principal walk- 
ing-cane industrj- of the island. Many exquisite specimens can be 
purchased very cheaply. The native woods are as follows : Ausubo, 
capa bianco, capa prieto, oak, laurel, juniper, lignum-vitse, ucar, 
cedro, moco, coco and royal palms, mariccio, maguey, palo santo, and 
several other varieties, some extremely hard and brittle, others soft 
and pliable. Houses constructed entirely of native wood, brought 
down from the mountains by ox carts to Mayaguez, last a number of 
years, and, upon examination, now seem apparently as solid as the 
day they were built, fifty j^ears ago. The handling of native wood for 
building purposes would not be profitable ; again, it would be a hard 
matter to obtain it in any quantity or the land upon which it grows. 

The alcalde of Mayaguez, speaking of that jurisdiction, says, in a 
supplementary report submitted by Major Thomas : It possesses hand- 
some though not extensive forests, such as mangoes, algarrobos, jaguas, 
jacanas, guamcis, aguacates, jobos, I'lcares capaes, aceitillos, and many 
others which are suitable for building purposes and for fuel. 

The alcalde of Cabo Rojo, in a report concerning that jurisdiction, 
submitted b}' Major Thomas as a supplement to his report, says: 
There is not enough woods in this jurisdiction for building purposes, 
biit for cabinetwork it can be found in sufficient quantity, such as 
capa, ucar, aceitillo, and others. 

DISTRICT OF SAN GERMAN. 

Lieutenant Hornbrook reports : There are about 2,079 acres of forest 
in San German; 5,000 in Sabana Grande, 569 in Lajas, and 400 in 
Cabo Rojo. The following are the principal trees found here : Second- 
class mahogany, cedar, satinwood, ausuba, caracolillo, maga, azucar, 
ramon, quiebra-hacha, raj^o. 

DISTRICT OF SAN JUAN. 

Lieutenant Blunt reports: One of the noticeable features is the 
absence of forests on the hills; there are scattered groups of trees, 



20 CONDITIONS IN PUERTO RICO. 

but no continuous woods on any hills in this section; neither is there 
any growth of timber trees at any point. The many varieties are all 
rough, knotted, and crooked, of little commercial value. 

CAROLINA. 

The absence of any forests in these sections is very noticeable; 
large trees are scattered around ; there is no regular forest growth. 

DISTRICT OF VIEQUES. 

Captain Vance reports: There are^no forests to speak of on the 
island (of Vieques), the only timber of any mercantile use being a 
species of hard wood suitable for posts and beams of houses. 



CHARACTER AND PRODUCTS OF THE SOIL. 

PUERTO RICO AS AN ISLAND. 

Major Glassford makes no special report on this topic. 

DISTRICT OF ARECIBO. 

Captain Macomb reports in two sections. 

The first relates to the island as a whole : The soil of the mountain 
areas is frequently a tremendously sticky red clay, formed from the 
decomposition of volcanic rock. 

The bottoms — the plains along the coast — are generally alluvial near 
the mouths of rivers ; in other cases they are formed by the decompo- 
sition of the lime rock. These two soils are dark brown or black, simi- 
lar to the "black waxy" soil of Texas, near Dallas. At present these 
plains are used altogether for sugar cane and pasture lands. 

The more sandy soils are used for tobacco and such as the batata, 
a rather poor variety of the sweet potato. 

It is customary to say that the coffee plant can only be profitably 
cultivated on the higher ground, say at an elevation of 500 feet, 
but in truth the whole island, plains and all, was given over to coffee 
raising some years ago, and only when the flood of Brazilian coffee 
broke the market were the plains again devoted to the cultivation of 
the sugar cane and the coffee tree banished to its present home, the 
steeply sloping lands of the interior. 

The second is intermingled with other matter pertaining to Arecibo 
district: At the Camuy River the (coastal) plain widens out slightl3\ 
East of Manati this plain is sandy. * * * About 4 miles west of 
Camuy a gentle sloping valley occurs and is utilized for the produc- 
tion of sugar cane. Unless the plains are very sandy, they are used 
for cane growing, the sloping ground slightlj^ back from the sea for 
tobacco, pasturage, bananas, and small fruits. The sandj^ plains are 
used for the batata, peanuts, cocoanut palm, and frequently tobacco 
of a poor quality. Back of the hill barrier * * * the rock has 
weathered into a tough and tenacious soil, generally of a red color, and 
forms the typical coffee land. Nevertheless, it is capable of produc- 
ing delicious fruits, and every coffee farm raises without cultivation 
sufiacient oranges, pineapples, mangoes, plantains, and bananas for 
home consumption. 



CONDITIONS IN PUEETO KICO. 



21 



DISTRICT OF AGUADILLA. 

Captain Mansfield reports : The soil in the northwest is mostly more 
or less sanely and stony. This is true of part of the west section also. 
In the southeastern section there is considerable good soil, especially 
in the valley of the Culebrina and about Rincon. The soil on the 
mountain and hillsides of the interior is more or less a rich loam, 
but when the hills are bare the soil is poor and stony. In the low- 
lands it is more or less rich. In places there is considerable red clay. 
The general character of soil is sandy, with a mixture of clay. 

List of domestic and wild flowers that are Jcnown in this locality, indigenous and 

imported. 



■Name. 



Indigenous or im- 
ported. 



Remarks. 



Cajuil flower 
Allelu.iah flower . 



Gilly flower- 
Sesame flower. - 
Arraijan flower . 
Acacia flower — 
Succory flower . 

Oleander 

Marshmallow- . . 

Poppy 

Almond trees — 
Amaranthe 




It is wild and grows in the country without cul- 
tivation. 
Of difi:erent colors, scattered in fields, and some 

cultivated in gardens. 
Cultivated in gardens. 

Imported I Cultivated for seed, which yield afine oil. 

Indigenous I Plentiful in the country. 

Imported ! Several kinds, cultivated in gardens. 



Anacaguita 

Pineapple.- 

Anemones 

Angelica flower 

Mugwort flower. 

Aromatic flower 

Orange or lemon flower. 



Annotto flower . 



Indigenous 
Imported .. 
Indigenous 

do 

Imported .. 
Indigenous 

Imported .- 
Indigenous 
Imported .. 

do 

Indigenous 

do 

Imported .. 



Indigenous 



White lily 

Poppy flower, or Adori- 
nidera. 

Alilaida flower 

Balsam-apple flower . . . 

Balsam flower 

Sweet potato 

Batatillas 

Bervinca flower 

Borage flower 

Button flower 

Witch flower 

Baculo flower 

Cactus 



Pumpkin 

Canduga 

Widow-wail 

Bell flower 

Plane tree 

Cassia fistula 

Do 

Cress _ 

Caracol 

Campo santo 

Pink flowers 

Common pink flowers. 

Wax flowers.-- 

Copey flower 

Dahlia flower. 

Diamela flower 

Dragon flower 

Encorcivuena flower. . 

Larkspur 

Estrafia flowers 

Parcha flowers 



Imported . . 
Indigenous 



do 

Imported 

do 

do 

Indigenous — 

Imported 

do 

do 

Indigenous 

Imported 

Indigenous and im- 
ported. 

Imported 

Indigenous - 

Imported 

Indigenous 

Indigenous 

Imported 

Indigenous 

Imported 

do 

Indigenous 

Imported 

do_ 

do.._ 

Indigenous 

Imported 

do 

do_ '. 

Indigenous 

Imported 

do 

do 



Without cultivation. 
Cultivated in gardens. 
Grows wild in the country. 
Is found wild; cultivated in some gardens. 
Planted on squares and avenues. 
Cultivated in order to extract from the tuber- 
cle the faeculse that carry its name. 

Produces the famous pineapples. 
Cultivated in gardens. 

Do. 
Found in the country. 
Scattered in our fields. 
Cultivated by the excellent condition of the 

fruits produced by lemon tree, sour-orange 

tree, and orange tree. 
Wild, and cultivated for the excellent condition 

of the seeds. There are two classes (red and 

yellow) that are used for dyeing. 
Cultivated in gardens. 
Grows wild in our fields. 

Wild. 

Cultivated in some gardens. 

Cultivated in gardens. 

Cultivated for food. 

Without cultivation. 

Cixltivated in gardens. 

Cultivated. 

Do. 
Grows wild in country. 
Without cultivation. 



Cultivated for the fruit. 

Wild. 

Cultivated in gardens. 

Grows wild in the country. 

Grows wild. 

Wild. 

Cultivated in our fields. 
Cultivated in our gardens. 
Without cultivation. 

Of diiierent colors; cultivated in gardens. 
Cultivated in gardens. 
Do. 

Of several colors: cultivated in gardens. 
Cultivated in gardens. 
Cultivated in our gardens. 
Wild. 

Cultivated in our gardens. 
Do. 



22 



CONDITIONS IN PUERTO RICO. 



List of domestic and ivild floivers that are known in this locality, etc. — Continued. 



Name. 



Indigenous or im- 
ported. 



Remarks. 



Puatua 

Pomarrosa _ - 

Trumpet flower 

Crewe's bill (Crow's 

bill-'). 
Elio trope (Heliotrope?) 

Sunflower -_ --- 

Facinto flower 

Jasamine flower . - _ 



Indigenous 

do 

do 

Imported .. 



_do. 
.do. 
.do. 



Iris flower 

Night lady flower 

Honeysuckle flower 

Magnolia flower 

Furnsole flower 

Myrtle flower 

Narcissus flower 

Heart's-ease flower 

Everlasting flower 

Santa Teresa feather 
flower. 

Receda flower 

G-arden's flower 

Resales 

Sensitive flower 

Everlasting flower (3) . . 
Tulipan flower 



Imported and indige- 
nous. 

do 

Indigenous 

Imported 

do 



.do. 

.do. 

.do. 

.do. 

.do 

.do. 



do 

do 

do 

Indigenous 
Imported .. 
do 



"Without cultivation. 

Do. 
Cultivated. 

Cultivated in our gardens. 
Cultivated. 

Do. 
Cultivated and grows wild in the country. 

Do. 

Without cultivation. 

Cultivated . 
Do. 
Do. 
Do. 
Do. 
Do. 
Do. 

Do. 
Do. 
Do. 

Grows wild. 

Cultivated. 

Do. 



There are several kinds of flowers and vines too numerous to state 
in tills brief sketch. 

Ventura Marin. 

See also list of cultivated and wild fruits for this district under 
'Principal crops." 

DISTRICT OF CAYEY. 

Captain Foster reports: The soil is fertile and produces mainly 
coffee, tobacco, plantains, bananas, and other tropical fruits. 

DISTRICT OF HUMACAO. 

Captain Dentler reports: The soil is very fertile and productive. 

DISTRICT OF MAYAGUEZ. 

Major Thomas reports : The soil of the island of Puerto Rico, as well 
as the district of Mayaguez, is, as is well known, very fertile ; pro- 
duces abundantlj^ all of the tropical fruits, causing remunerative 
returns upon all investments judiciously managed. 

DISTRICT OF PONCE. 

Lieutenant Eames reports : Generally speaking, the soil is a sandy 
loam of very shallow depth over a very soft limestone, which in many 
places crops out on the surface. 

In this, as in the climate, there is such a diversity that it would be 
well-nigh impossible to describe the soil of the district in anything 
like a general way, for in some places it is deep and dark and rich, 
while in others it is shallow, light, and brown. The only general 
observation that could be ventured is that the soil is rich and will 
grow almost anything with true tropical luxuriance and that the best 
sugar and coffee lands of the island lie in the district of Ponce. 



CONDITIONS IN PUERTO RICO. 23 

DISTRICT OF SAN GERMAN. 

Lieutenant Hornbrook reports: The soil is very fertile and produces 
an abundant vegetation. 

DISTRICT OF SAN JUAN. 

Lieutenant Blunt makes no si)ecific report. 

DISTRICT OF VIEQUES. 

Captain Vance reports: The land is so fertile here that every vege- 
table known to me can be raised, though, strange to say, our staple 
vegetables — Irish potatoes and onions^ — are not, the people preferring 
to buy them in the stores at exorbitant prices ; other vegetables are 
raised in small quantities. 



PUBLIC LANDS. 

DISTRICT OF ARECIBO. 

Captain Macomb reports : Am informed that there are none in this 
district. Am informed that public lands are given by the " governor- 
general" to persons making application through secretary of justice, 
50 cuertas to one person. Land must be cultivated immediately, taxes 
must be paid for twenty years, then title is acquired. 

DISTRICT OF AGUADILLA. 

Captain Mansfield reports : Some of the towns and villages hold and 
own land; others do not. The town of Moco owns 14 acres of land 
besides the cemetery; San Sebastian owns 46 acres in addition to ceme- 
tery; Rincon owns 18 acres — 78 acres in all. The other towns own no 
land. I can not find that the state (island) owns any land but the few 
acres on which soldiers' barracks are built in the larger towns and the 
strips of beach land extending along the shore and having a width of 
20 meters inland. This strip is said to be pYiblic land. I am not able 
to ascertain how this land is held and entered. There are no improve- 
ments of what are called public land, except the barracks built by the 
government. 

DISTRICT OF MAYAGUEZ. 

Major Thomas makes report without date, as follows: 
With the exception of a small piece of ground near San German 
called " Las Peladas " there are not public lands in this district. No 
records can be found relative to any property of this nature at any 
of the municipalities. If there were any at about the time of the 
conquest of the island they were immediately taken possession of. I 
am of the opinion that there were none at the time nor had there 
been anj^ for a number of years previous. Undisturbed possession 
of landed property for a number of years under Spanish law gave the 
"squatter" claimant an undisputed and perfect title. It is possible 
that there may be a few spots on the extreme heights of the mountains 
not claimed by anyone and would be ordinarily designated as public 



24 CONDITIONS IN PUERTO RICO. 

lands, but such places are of no value whatever and are absolutely 
worthless for all practical purposes. 

SUBDISTRICT OF SAN GERMAN. 

Lieutenant Hornbrook reports : A piece of land' on the north side 
of Sabana Grande is regarded as public land. It is called "Las 
Peladas." 

DISTRICT OF PONCE. 

Lieutenant Eames reports as follows: 

Each city in the district has one or more plazas or parks, which 
are owned by the city, and also a city hall or alcaldia, besides usually 
one or two other buildings. Many of the cities hold public lands or 
farms near the city, which are often given over to t.he poor for gar- 
dens. Owing to the confusion attendant upon the separation of 
church and state, msiny of the churches are claimed bj^ both the city 
and church, and public records have been so kept as to render the 
origin of the ownership of the city's land in some doubt, and also so as 
to make a report on manner of entering and holding land difficult. 



STATE OF IMPROVEMENTS. 

DISTRICT OF ARECIBO. 

Captain Macomb, under the subheading of "Plantations and farms," 
says: General condition unadvanced. Machinery for sugar and coffee 
plantations old and primitive. Farm tools are a crooked stick, for a 
plow, hoes, and machetes. 

DISTRICT OF AGUADILLA. 

Captain Mansfield, under heading "Cities and towns," says: The 
improvements have been few. Most all towns and villages have 
empty treasuries, and do not seem to be able to raise enough to pay 
their employees without going into other expenditures. 

DISTRICT OF CAYEY. 

Captain Foster makes no report. 

DISTRICT OF HUMACAO. 

Captain Dentler, under date of May 16, 1899, says: Besides the 
renovation of the "Asilio De Los Pobres," formerly the town poor- 
house, now occupied by Troop C, Fifth Cavalry, and the many altera- 
tions for the betterment of the interior of the infantry barracks, 
situated in the center of the city of Humacao, there have been practi- 
cally no municipal improvements, for nearly all the cities are in 
considerable debt. 

DISTRICT OF MAYAGUEZ. 

In a supplement to the report of Major Thomas, -the alcalde of 
Mayaguez says : A military hospital, built of brick, of sufficient size, 



CONDITIONS IN PUERTO RICO. 25 

lies north of the city and near the asylum for the poor. Its hygienic 
conditions seem to be satisfactorj-. 

SUBDISTRICT OF SAN GERMAN. 

Lieutenant Hornbrook reports : Very few improvements have been 
made. 

DISTRICT OF PONCE. 

Lieutenant Eames reports : 

On the playa of Ponce is a fair engine hopse of wood, but in good 
repair. The city halls of the various towns 'are usually in good con- 
dition, but other municipal buildings are generally poor. Jails, pest- 
houses, and insane asylums are usually in very bad condition. Ponce 
has a good city hospital and a fair poorhouse, and the state of her 
improvements is rather better than that of other cities in the district. 

City streets are usually of fair macadam in the principal part of the 
city and of dirt in the poorer parts'. 

None of the cities have a sewer system, and Ponce alone has a 
water supply piped into the houses. 

In the way of public buildings, Ponce has a new and modern hospital, 
a poorhouse, insane asylum, orphans' home, a home for old women, a 
pesthouse, and three cemeteries. 

Yauco has two plazas, upon one of which is the market and upon the 
other the Roman Catholic cathedral. This latter (plaza) is beautified 
by palms and flowers, with shade trees and benches along its well- 
kept walks. 

Coamo boasts an excellent, if small, club, theater, and hotel. It has 
but one plaza, which contains the market as well as the ever-present 
cathedral. 



PLANTATIONS AND FARMS. 

Principal Crops, Agricultural and Horticultural, with 
Markets and Value. 

puerto rico as an island. 
Major Glassford does not discuss this topic. 

DISTRICT OF ARECIBO. 

Captain Macomb says : The future of the island is bright, with its 
rich soil and salubrious climate. * * * The island would seem to 
offer an ideal spot for fruit cultivation, especially of the orange, 
grape fruit, lemons, and pines. Tobacco, too, of an excellent quality 
thrives on the island. The plains are, unless very sandy, used for 
cane growing; the sloping ground slightly back from the sea for 
tobacco, pasturage, and small fruits. The steep limestone hills are 
not generally used, though capable of producing coffee. The more 
sandy plains are used for the batata — a poor species of sweet potato — 
peanuts, cocoanuts, palms, and frequentlj^ for a poor quality of 
tobacco. Some 12 miles from the north coast the volcanic rock is 
encountered. This rock has weathered into a soil tough and tena- 
cious^ generally of a red color, which is the typical coffee land. It is, 



26 CONDITIONS IN PUERTO RICO. 

nevertheless, capable of producing delicious fruits, and every coffee 
farm raises without cultivation sufficient oranges, pineapples, man- 
goes, plantains, and bananas for home consumption. 

Coffee to Germany and Italy; poorer class to Cuba. Price now low, 
$7.50 to $10, according to quality, per quintal of 100 pounds. 

Sugar to the United States, $1.68 per quintal; old price, $3. 

Tobacco to Germany, $2.40 per quintal for filler, $9 to $11 for wrap- 
pers; old prices were more than double these. 

Cocoanut from Santana, Hatillo, and Camuy shipped to New York 
from Arecibo port via Mayaguez by sea; sometimes from Arecibo in 
coasting vessels via San Juan to New York. 

Lumber, Acetillo, in logs by cart to Arecibo, thence to Germany. 

Molasses from this port to New York, Boston, and Canada, $8.45 
per hogshead. 

Oranges not really cultivated, just permitted to grow. Are gen- 
erally sweet and good, but capable of much improvement by selection 
and grafting. Occasionally shipped from Mayaguez to New York. 

Rice formerly cultivated to a considerable extent. Crops attacked 
by insect called changa. Rice now usually imported from Hamburg, 
Germany. 

Other fruits that succeed here: Mango, pinea^pple, grape fruit, 
lemon. 

Tropical fruits of vicinity. — Poma rosa (rose apple), jacana, leches- 
illa, jobo, anon, caimito (star apple), hicaco. limon dulce (sweet 
lemon), lima (wild lemon), calambreiia, zapote (sapota), ingerta 
(grafted orange), aguacates (alligator j»ears), uvas playa (sea grapes), 
higuillo (small fig), datiles (dates), fruta de pan (bread fruit), cocos 
(cocoanuts), multas, ahusuba, jagua, ciruela (plum), carason, guana- 
bana, guayaba (guara tree), mango (mango tree), china (orange), 
pajuil, mamey (mamee tree), nispero (medlat [medlar?] tree), pinas 
(pineapple), lechosa, (sweet bread), quenepas, coroso (sort of palm 
tree), alagarrobo (carob tree), havanpen (poor's bread),, guines 
(bananas). 

DISTRICT OF AGUADILLA. 

Captain Mansfield reports : The character of the soil is such that 
even in the stony and sandy sections, like Isabela, if properly tilled and 
cultivated acicording to modern methods it will be very produc- 
tive, especially when climate and moisture are considered. 

The chief farm products are coffee, sugar, tobacco, beans, habas (a 
large bean), sweet potatoes, yams, rice, tubercles, corn, sesame, and 
peanuts; some cassava and also cocoa (chocolate bean) are produced. 

Garden products are principally peas (Spanish variety), Irish pota- 
toes, garlic, eggplant, tomatoes, peppers, lettuce, small quantities 
of onions, cabbage, beets, and cucumbe^rs. 

The principal fruits are bauaaas, pineapples, cocoanuts, nispero, 
mamey, sapote nispero, mangoes, lemons, limes, caimito, melons of 
all kinds, guama, anones, guayoba (guava), tamarinds, guonobibes, 
jagua, oranges, papia, pomegranate, and alligator i3ears. There are 
also a few dates and other fruits. 

There are reported to be 90 eoff'ee plantations, 22 sugar plantations, 
3 tobacco plantations, and 3,950 farms of different sizes, where every- 
thing, including small quantities of sugar, coffee, and tobacco, are 
raised. 

It is reported that under the present sj' stem of cultivation the fol- 
lowing amounts are produced per acre in this district: Coffee, 400 to 



CONDITIONS IN PUERTO RICO, 27 

600 pounds; sugar, 2 to 3 liogsheads; tobacco, 800 pounds; sweet pota- 
toes, 5,000 pounds; rice, 6 to 16 bushels; beans, 2 to 4 bushels; peas, 
1 to 3 bushels, the yield depending upon the soil, locality, and weather. 
Other articles are produced in various quantities. No hsij, oats, wheat, 
or barley seem to be produced, and but little corn. 

At the present time (May 30, 1899) coffee only brings 112 to $13 per 
100 pounds; sugar, s|54 per 100 pounds; rum (one of the by-products 
of sugar mills), 80 cents a gallon ; and rice, $5 per 100 pounds. Onions 
bring $6 per 100 pounds, and Irish potatoes about the same; corn, 
$1.50 to 11.75 per 100 pounds. The prices are those of leading arti- 
cles and are given in provincial money. 

The methods of cultivation are mainly of the most primitive sort. 
I have seen but few plows, harrows, or modern farming implements 
in the district. A sharp stick is usually dragged over the ground for 
a plow, and the earth is only really scratched, not turned under. 

There is little or no use of manure, except in a few instances among 
coffee and sugar plantations. 

Most fruits, oranges and bananas included, seem to practically grow 
wild — that is, they may be planted, but are soon left to shift for them- 
selves, but seem to flourish. Careful cultivation according to modern 
methods and the free use of manure, together with good drainage, 
would produce wonderful results. 

A good deal of care is generally taken with the cultivation of coffee 
and sugar, but even with them there is room for great improvement, 
which would very materially increase the products. 

In this district most of the coffee is produced in and about Lares, 
San Sebastian, and Moco, where the country and soil are best adapted 
for it. 

Most of the sugar is produced in the southwestern section of the 
district, from Aguadilla to Rincon, though there is, some cultivated 
in the vicinity of Isabela. 

Most of the tobacco is raised in the Isabela section, though some is 
raised in the vicinity of Quebradillas, Moco, and Lares, and C|uite a 
good deal near Aguadilla. Rice seems to grow in all sections in the 
low places of the district; it is mostly of the upland variety. 

Beans grow everywhere, especiallj" in Isabela, Aguadilla, and 
Aguada. 

Sweet potatoes grow best in Aguadilla and Aguada; so do yams and 
some vegetables. Other products and vegetables grow all over the 
district equally well. 

Few Irish potatoes are raised, because, it is said, the crop does not 
pay and the demand is not very great, owing to high prices, which 
prevent them from becoming a staple article of diet. 

Principal crops: Coffee, sugar, and tobacco. 

Principal fruits : Bananas, cocoanuts, and oranges, as given above. 

Chief local markets: Aguadilla, Arecibo, and Mayaguez. 

Principal foreign markets: For best grade of coffee, Europe; for 
poor grades, Cuba; for sugar. United States; for best grades of 
tobacco, Cuba; for low grades, Spain. 

It is impossible to obtain the value of crops at present, owing to 
the unsettled state of affairs. 

Lares is in the midst of a very rich coffee district. 

The Salvador- Amell sugar plantation, worth about 350,000 pesos, 
is near Moco, and is fitted with modern machiner}- for making sugar 
by the centrifugal process. 



28 CONDITIONS IN PUERTO RICO. 

There is miicli sugar raised about Rincon; also many cocoanuts, 
sweet potatoes, etc. 

Quebradilla: * * * There is much tobacco, some sugar, some 
coffee, and many peanuts raised there; also yams and sweet potatoes. 

Isabela: * * * Some coffee is raised about there, and consid- 
erable sugar and much tobacco. It is a comparatively dry locality, 
where sometimes in the drj^^ season there is considerable drought. 

LIST OF WILD AND CULTIVATED FRUITS THAT ARE KNOWN IN THIS DISTRICT. 

Alligator pear (aguacate) : {Persia gratisma.) This fruit is produced by the tree 

that bears its name; plentiful. (Cultivated. ) 
Custard apple (anon): {Anona squamosa.) From the same family of the Anano- 

cea fruits; it is sugared and has a delicious taste. (Cultivated.) 
Carob bean (algarrobo): {Hyiirenca courbaril.) This fruit, of saliqua shape, is 

produced by the tree of the same name. This fruit is little appreciated in 

Puerto Rico. (It grows wild.) 
Almond ( almendra ) : ( Amygdalus coummes. ) Of the same family as the Rosaceas. 
Wild eggplant (berengena cimarrona): (Solomacea L.) This fruit is produced 

by a large tree and grows wild. It is poisonous. 
Cajuil or (maraiion) : {Anacardium occidentalis.) This fruit tree carries the name 

of the fruit. 
Pineapple (piiia): ( Br omelia ananas.) There are three kinds of this fruit. The 

one called pan de azucar (sugar bread), the cabezona (big head), and the 

negrita (black). All cultivated. 
Guanabana: (Anona neuricata.) There are two kinds of this fruit, the sour and 

the sweet one, and it has a very nice taste. 
Mango (wild) : {Mangifera India. ) Large tree that produces the fruit of its name; 

belongs to the Ferembentinaces family, and there are several kinds, called red, 

white, bees, the bull's egg, the ash color, and the mangotin, all of them having 

a good taste. 
Guava (guayaba): (Ptsidiwm, belongs to the Mirtaceas family). There are sev- 
eral kinds, and they are used for making jelly. (Grows wild.) 
Peru's guava (sour guava, sweet guava): (Pisidium pyriferum) cultivated. 

[Pisidinm guayaba) wild. {Pisidium aromaticum) wild. 
Cacao (cocoa bean, chocolate bean): {Theobroma, family Bitneriaceas.) Food of 

the goddess. There are several kinds — the common cocoa, the guayana, the 

reddish, the elegant, the wild, the small, the yellow, the oval leaves, and the 

starry leaves. (Cultivated.) 
Coffee (cafe): (Cafea arabiga.) Of the family of Rubeaceas. This is the richest 

plant on this island. (Cultivated.) 
Guam a: {Fa iiiilia Jeguminosa. ) There are two kinds on this island— the white and 

the red. This fruit is insipid, btit is planted to give shade to the coffee and 

cocoa tree. (Grows wild.) 
Achiote: {Biga 07^ellana. ) There are two kinds — the red and the yellow. Both are 

used for dyeing. (Cultivated.) 
Bread fruit (Pan de palo): {Artocarpus incisa.) This fruit is plentiful here and 

is cultivated as food for the poor class of people and for feeding hogs. (Cul- 
tivated.) 
Malagueta: (Xilopia grandiflora. ) This seed is used to make a very good oil. 

(Cultivated.) 
Poma Rosa: (Eugenia jambosa.) This fruit is plentiful in this country, and it 

has a very agreeable odor. (Wild.) 
Nispero (Medlar fruit): (Anchas sapotas.) This fruit is cultivated because it 

tastes very nice. ( C alti vated. ) 
Quenepos: {Melicoca bijuga.) This fruit has a very good taste. (Cultivated.) 
Pomegranate (Granada): (Punlea granatum.) This fruit is very nice. 
Cocoanut (cocoa): (Cocus unciferotis.) This fruit is very popular and when 

green gives a very nice drinking water. (Cultivated. ) 
Royal palm (palmareal): (Oreadexa regia.) This fruit is only used for feeding 

pigs. 
Orange (China): (Auranceas.) This fruit is cultivated for the fine taste it has. 

(Cultivated.) 
Sour orange (naranjas): (Citrus vulgaris.) This fruit is used for cooking and 

for raaking sweets. (Cultivated.) 
Lemons (limones): (Hesperideas.) Cultivated for making sweets and the juice 

for refreshment. (Cultivated.) 



CONDITIONS IN PUERTO RICO. 29 

Corazon (heart fruit): {Anona relicnlata.) Grows wild. 

Red dwarf pepper (aji): {CapHic^im arum.) Grows wild. 

Tamarind (tamarindo) : ( Tamarindufi Indica. ) There are two kinds, the sour and 

the sweet; used for refreshment. (Grows wild.) 
Jacana: (Poman viride.) This fruit is of no importance. (Grows wild.) 
Ycaco: (Chrifiobalamus Ycaciiti.) Of no importance. (Grows wild.) 
Star apple (caimito): {Chryt^ophlum caimito.) This fruit is cultivated. 
Lechocosa 6 Papaya: {Carica.) This frui£ is good when ripe, and when green is 

good to make sweets. (Grows wild.) 
Calambrena: (Estaliana.) Grows wild in the country and produces a very good 

fruit, like figs. 
Jagua: {Geiniprea Americana.) This fruit is of little importance. Grows wild. 
Bananas (platanos) : {Musa paradisica.) There are of this fruit eight kinds. 
Dominican bananas: {Musa regia.) 
Red bananas: {Musa rosacea.) 
Small red bananas: (Musa coccinea.) 
Common bananas: {Musa sapientum.) 
Apple bananas: {Musa Tiumilis.) 
Tapocho (bananas): {Musa mixta.) 

All these kinds are cultivated in the country for different uses. 
Copey: {Clusia rosea, ) This tree grows wild and carries the name of its fruit and 

produces the vegetable tar. 
Cassia fistula (carta fistula): {Cathartocarpus fistula.) There are two kinds, the 

common and the wild one; both grow wild. 
Melon: {Melo viridis.) Cultivated. There are three kinds of it, the round, the 

odor, and the long. 
Watermelon (patillas) : {Cucurhita commes.) There are two kinds, the white and 

the red one, and are cultivated for the good flavor. 
Granadilla: {Parcha passiflora.) This fruit grows on a twining plant; it is wild 

and sometimes it is cultivated for its agreeable flavor. 
Cucumber (pepino): {Averrhoa bilumhi.) This plant grows wild, and there are 

several kinds, used for salads and pickles. 
Higo chumbo: {Ficiis cactus opumtia indica.) This fruit grows wild and it is 

only used for making ink. 
Pita-haya: {Cactus pilahaya.) This fruit is insipid. 
Cherry: {Malastoma hista.) This fruit is cultivated for making sweets. 
Wild pumpkin: {Arum colasia.) This fruit grows wild. 
Ginger: {Amonrum Jengihre. ) This rootor tubercle grows wild, and in someplaces 

it is cultivated for exportation. There are two kinds, sweet and sour. 
Vasquena: {Piper mubejkd urn.) ■ This plant grows wild. 
Sand grape: {Cocolola uvilfera.) This fruit grows wild. 
Higera blanca: {Cresentis cuyete. ) This fruit grows wild and it is used for several 

things. There are several kinds. 
Jobo: {Spo7idia lutea.) This tree grows wild. There are two kinds, the big tree 

and the small tree, that produce a fruit called jovillo, with very good flavor. 

Buenaventura Marina. 

DISTRICT OF CAYEY. 

Captain Foster reports : The lands are mainly owned in large bodies 
and worked by laborers wlio live in huts erected on the land by per- 
mission of the owners. The principal crops are coffee and tobacco. 
This is the center of the tobacco industry of the island, and Cayey 
cigars have the reputation of being the best on the island. 

DISTRICT OF HUMACAO. 

Captain Dent ler reports: The principal crops are sugar, molasses, 
and tobacco. In the district are manj^ plantations and farms, and 
the proprietors of these estates are generally either well-to-do or 
wealthy men. There are large, comfortable, cool houses upon these 
plantations. 

DISTRICT OF MAYAGUEZ. 

Major Thomas reports : Sugar cane is the most profitable crop, fol- 
lowed closely by coffee, then tobacco, rum, rice, corn, beans, and the 



30 CONDITIONS IN PUERTO RICO. 

different varieties of fruits — pineapples, cocoanuts, guayabas, sweet 
oranges, cherries, mangoes, limes, nisperos, mamey, and others. 

There are in this district two factories that are called "centrals," 
for the grinding of cane and the manufacture of sugar, rum, and 
molasses. These establishments absorb the sugar cane grown upon 
the lands of the estate as well as other lands in the immediate vicinity 
and owned by different people, and there are other manufactories of the 
same kind, steam mills and ox mills; in the latter the motive power is 
oxen, yoked by the horns, as in primitive times. The centrals are the 
most important, having for each year's crop the cane from 200 to 400 
acres, the others ranging from 80 to 200 acres; some as low as 40 acres. 
Usually there are manufactured three classes of sugar — first, second, 
and third — the first-class usually in small amounts and sold for home 
consumption, the other classes going to the United States. 

The trade with Spain, heretofore an important item in the island 
industries, having ceased, it now requires, in order to make a planta- 
tion pay, as manager an experienced planter who has had experience, 
who has an intimate knowledge of the sugar-cane industrj^, who also 
has had experience in the tropics and knows the different soils, 
understands the problems of drainage, fertilizing, the working of men, 
and the proper manner of caring for the cane after planting. 

In connection with the manufacturing of sugar,' the output of rum 
from each factory is also important, and must be embraced in the cal- 
culations of anyone seeking such an investment. 

All sugar factories have a distillery apparatus connected with the 
main building. From these establishments large quantities of rum 
(ranging from 1 to 500 hogsheads in each factory) are annually placed 
upon the market, shipments being made to different ports and large 
quantities being consumed upon the island. The home consumption 
of rum is enormous. 

By retaining it a few years, stored in places speciallj^ constructed 
for that purpose, a quality of rum is produced equal to the Santa Cruz 
and Jamaica products, so well known and so much sought after all 
over the world. 

The variety of cane usually planted on both the large and small 
estates is known as the white cane, it giving the best results. It 
requires from ten to twelve months for development, is ordinarily 
planted in Februarj^ or March, and is ready for harvesting and grind- 
ing in the following January. The grinding season lasts about five 
months, more or less, depending upon the crop, the maturitj^ of the 
cane, and the readiness of the proprietors and mills for work, includ- 
ing, of course, the weather. 

Upon the lands pertaining to the large sugar estates are located, in 
small houses near by, a large number of working people, mostly colored, 
wdio go with the lands when they are sold or pass into other hands, so 
that there is always plenty of laborers on each plantation. 

A large number of poor people on this island own small properties 
of from" 2 to 10 acres each, who do not depend upon the products of 
their own property for sustenance, but work during the cane, coffee, 
or tobacco season at the near by large "haciendas," cultivating their 
small properties at odd times, raising a few vegetables and eking out 
a somewhat monotonous existence. Their condition in some localities, 
is decidedly pitiful, and will be so until the present conditions change. 
That, however, will not be long. 

The coffee grounds, or farms, are mostly in the high districts or 
foothills, sometimes situated near the topmost points of the mountain 
ranges. 



CONDITIONS IN PUERTO RICO. 31 

Tlie coffee plant requires from five to eiglit years for full develop- 
ment, and must be abundantly shaded all tlie time, the land being 
first cleared and the shade grown before the plant will thrive. The 
crop is certain, though somewhat affected by the violent rain storms 
so common on this island. 

To the coffee grounds in this district there are but few good roads ; 
in fact, but oneor two. Hence the marketing of the coffee Diust be 
by ox carts and pack trains, adding somewhat to the expense. 

But few coffee planters have the necessary machinery to properly 
prepare their coffee for the market. The coffee is usually sold to the 
dealers, who have tlie control or ownership of the polishing establish- 
ments that prepare the coffee for the market. 

Coffee lands, likewise sugar-cane lands, can be bought and bought 
reasonably in this district if the individual seeking such an invest- 
ment is a sharp, shrewd business man, and I take it no others will 
attempt it. Frequently land here has sold as high as $300 per acre; 
other lands very much cheaper. The price will vary considerably, 
depending upon the locality, the quality of the land, roads, w^ater 
facilities, markets, and jurisdiction. 

Puerto Rican coffee is of the best kind; is not used in the United 
States to any extent, owing to the enormous output of coffee from 
Brazil, the "trust," and the high price. Some coffee is now^ being 
shipped to the United States from this port. Like sugar cane, it 
requires for successful management an exi)erienced planter. Af!ter 
once started — that is, ready to produce the first crop — the returns 
from a coffee farm will be ample on the investment and tlie exiDense 
of maintenance of the farm in shipshape slight. 

The tobacco of this district is a superior article, wdiicli is grown 
near Cabo Rojo and other places, much of the tobacco grown here and 
elsewhere in Puerto Rico going to Habana, and from there exported as 
Cuban or Habana tobacco. It is just as good an article of tobacco as 
that grown in Cuba, with the single exception of that grown in a small 
district of Cuba known as the " Vuelta Abajo." 

The people here do not have the facilities for storing and curing 
-tobacco; moreover, do not understand the process as well as their 
Cuban neighbors. If they did, the tobacco of Puerto Rico would not 
be classedas inferior to any in the world. To obtain the best results 
the crops must be carefully attended to, must be gathered at a certain 
time, and must go through the sweating process in a propeiij^ con- 
structed building free from too much moisture. Many small farms 
groAv an inferior article that is used wholly in the manufacture of 
chewing tobacco and is usually sold to the natives, this class of tobacco 
not being considered sufficiently elastic for the manufacture of cigars. 
This industry pays handsome profits. 

Rice, beans, and corn form an important item in the island indus- 
tries, the diet of the laboring classes consisting almost entirely of 
rice, beans, and bread. All farmers raise quite a stand of these 
staples for those laborers about the farm and for sale in the contiguous 
markets. 

Bananas, platanos, and guineos grow well and yield abundantly, 
not much attention being paid to banana plants except as shade for 
coffee in the first year. 

Bananas and pineapples could be exported to the United States and 
would give a good return on the outlay, but they have to be trans- 
ported in ships especially constructed for the purpose and fast liners. 

1 This report is without date, but probably written in May or June, 1899. 



32 ' CONDITIONS IN PUERTO RICO. 

Mayag'uez district has been noted for the excellent quality of its 
pineapples for years, large quantities being shipped to different locali- 
ties, and all steamers touching here for passengers, discharging or 
loading cargo, take on a supply of this luscious fruit, palatable, 
healthy, and cheap. 

The cocoanut industry is yet in its infancy. In time it will be 
increased 50 per cent. The water from young cocoanuts is always 
cool, extremel}^ healthy, and delicious. It furnishes a cooling drink 
to anyone who will purchase, the natives furnishing them in any 
quantity— the coast lands being the best for raising the cocoa palm. 
One seeking a piece of ground for the purpose of cultivating this fruit 
should obtain a ' ' patch " bordering the sea. Large quantities of 
cocoanuts are now used in the candy markets of New York, the supplj^ 
being unequal to the demand. 

Oranges grow almost wild, no attention being paid to the cultivation 
of the trees. Of the two varieties grown here, the ones sold under the 
name of "Chinas" are the best, the sour variety not being in the 
market. 

I am of the opinion that oats would do well here (Cabo Rojo), though 
could get no positive information on the subject. Corn seems to do 
very well. It is a small, white flint variety ; whether anj^ different or 
better variety would thrive is a question. It would not, moreover, 
pay. Sweet corn should do well, and truck gardens, with good seed 
from the States, would pay well near the large towns and near rail- 
road centers. 

The alcalde of Mayaguez says: Its coast lands are composed of 
argil, sand, lime, and surface soil, this last component being gen- 
erally abundant in the land, owing to its greater or less distance from 
the sea. 

Coffee is produced in abundance and is considered to be one of the 
best varieties in the world. All of its lands are suitable for x)lanting 
of sugar cane. 

There are some plains "vegas" where "middling" tobacco is 
grown. Some of the smaller fruits are grown, such as sweet oranges, 
cocoanuts, pineapples, etc., that with cheap and convenient means for 
transportation would form important items of export. 

As to the true condition of properties, coffee, and small fruits, it 
may be stated positively that they are at a comparative standstill. 
This is due to several causes occurring previous to the war, whicli it 
would be unnecessary to enumerate here, causing a feeling of uncer- 
tainty in business circles. 

The principal crops are sugar and coffee, although sugar is com- 
paratively low to what it formerly was. 

The alcalde of Cabo Rojo states: Here are 9 plantations with steam 
engines from 12 to 16 horsepower, and 14 worked bj^ oxen. 

Cane is cultivated, producing at present approximately 26,000 quin- 
tals of 100 pounds of sugar annually. This output could be increased 
if money could be obtained at reasonable terms. 

There are 14 alembics (distilling apparatus) for the distillation of 
rum, which j'ield from 25 to 125 gallons a day. The annual output is 
123,200 liters, and that is when molasses does not bring a reasonable 
price in the market. 

The same planters prefer to sell molasses for exportation, making- 
use only of the cachaza, the thick foam and spoils left after the 
squeezing of the cane through the mill rollers. 

Besides, there arer8^3 farms amongst the number breeding cattle of 
all kinds. 



CONDITIONS IN PUERTO RICO. , 33 

The cultivation of minor fruits is unknown. 

The planting of coffee is a specialty, although in some of those "it 
grows in small portions, so much so that the yearlj^ yield may be esti- 
mated at from 300 to 400 quintals.'' 

The number of acres of land embraced by the 23 cane plantations 
and the 863 farms already mentioned is about 36,258 acres, divided as 
follows: Plain land, 12,203 acres; hilly land, 11,084 acres; mountain 
and forest, 12,971 acres; total, 36,258. 

Under his description of "Cities and towns" Major Thomas reports 
as follows : 

Mayaguez: Agricultural interests are as follows: One central sugar 
manufactorj''; 16 large sugar manufactories; 22 large coffee farms; 
145 small coffee farms; 371 small farms for the small fruits. 

Hormigueros : Agricultural interests are as follows : Nine large sugar 
manufactories; 9 small- coffee farms; 184 small farms for raising small 
fruits of the island. 

ATiasco : Agricultural interests are as follows : Sixteen large sugar 
manufactories; 7 large coffee farms ; 103 small coffee farms; 500 small 
fruit farms, small fruit of the island. 

San German : Agricultural interests are as follows : Eight large sugar 
manufactories; 30 coffee farms. 

Sabana Grande : Agricultural interests are as follows : Five large 
sugar manufactories; 6 large coffee farms; 464 small farms devoted to 
fruit raising. 

Maricao: Agricultural interests are as follows: Ninety-five large 
coffee farms and 153 small coffee farms. 

Las Marias: A fine coffee region, having coffee interests as follows: 
Forty-four large coffee farms and 397 small coffee farms. 

Lag" as : Agricultural interests are as follows : Nine large sugar manu- 
factories; 9 small coffee farms; 624 small fruit farms devoted to the 
cultivation of the small fruits of the island. 

Cabo Rojo: Agricultural interests are as follows: Twenty-six large 
sugar manufactories; 892 small fruit farms. 

Wheat cultivation is not an industry in this district, though the 
consensus of opinion is that it would pay. This important product 
is completel}^ overshadowed by sugar, coffee, and tobacco cultivation. 
There are no flour mills and little, if any, wheat is now being raised. 
It has been attemiDted several times, and I am credibly informed it 
makes or has made good croi3s and the results were satisfactory. All 
the flour (wheat and corn) for island consumption being imported 
from the States, against Spanish opposition, custom duties, etc., which 
militated against the cultivation of this article of commerce, so it 
was and has been neglected. There being no mil-Is suitable for reduc- 
ing the wheat to flour, also, has or has had a depressing influence upon 
the putting in of a substantial crop. The experiment, I am of the 
opinion, would prove satisfactory^ though the laborers here under- 
stand nothing about the preparation of the ground, harvesting, or 
thrashing. American machinery would necessarily have to be intro- 
duced, and a good overseer, who has served a term on a large farm in 
the Western States, installed as manager. 

The island breed of horses raised here are all small, wiry beasts, 
suitable only for riding and pack puriDoses, transportation of mails, 
carriages and small carts, and for traveling on horseback in the inte- 
rior; not used upon the plantations or farms for working purposes, 
being entirely unsuitable for anything of that nature. They are all 
small, about 12 to 14 hands high, some as low as 11 hands, but capable 
1 ^1 no ?j 



34 CONDITIONS IN PUERTO RICO. 

of and are compelled by tlieir heartless owners to carry considerable 
weight nnder the saddle and when packed. They are broken at 2 
years, and thence forward their burdens are numerous and varied. 
The males are kept entire, such a thing as castration being unknown, 
though perhaps it may be due to the danger from screw worms and 
other insects at all times of the year. 

The breed has been maintained in a continuous strain, interbreed- 
ing and crosses of same blood. Hard work, early maturity, w^ant of 
sufficient nourishment, with brutal handling have resulted in a vicious 
tendenc}^, manifested in tfye whole race. It has also resulted in an 
undersized beast that can go at a fair pace, what would be called a 
" single-foot gait." They must of necessity take this gait, otherwise 
it would be ' impossible for them to carry the weight. The horses 
could be improved verj^ greatly by a judicious intermingling of an 
out-cross blood, adding to the weight or height and correcting the 
depraved, vicious instincts. 

Steps have already been taken to this end. General Castleman, of 
Kentucky, sending his beautiful 3-.year-old saddle stallion, "Good- 
win," here for a ]3ermanent residence upon the island. I believe this 
horse is to go to a large hacienda near Ponce. No doubt grand results 
will follow this imi3ortant importation if intelligently pursued. 

Some, or j)erhaps nearly all, of the Puerto Rican breed of horses 
show wonderful powers of endurance under the saddle and in front of 
carriages; not affected bj" the heat; have very tough, flintj" hoofs; not 
often sick, and the majority make delightful riding ponies to one who 
likes the short, chopping steps. 

The best strains command high prices, some as high as 800 pesos or 
more, while some fair specimens can be bought as low as 40 pesos. 

The small English pigskin saddle, also a Puerto Rican product 
something like the English, is used. 

There are no farms or ranchos in the district devoted to the exclu- 
sive breeding, rearing, and handling of native horses. Most owners 
of large and moderate-sized plantations raise enough for the farm's 
purposes, such as hauling the family carriage, cross-country riding, 
and bringing the mails. 

At some of the large sugar estates I have noticed some good though 
small si3ecimens, all in most excellent condition, kept so on the native 
grasses, to which is added a liberal amount of sweetened water or 
cane juice from the ne>arby mill. 

It is impossible to raise here anj large number of horses on anj'^ of 
the farms — that is, hy pasturing, running loose at all times of the year, 
the rainy season producing the disease known as hoof rot, which is 
very diii&cult to contend against, and which necessitates the building 
of cover and board floors to keep them free from the disease. It is 
even found necessary at times to put the v/orking oxen on board 
floors during the rainy season. All horses, young and old, at any 
farm, have to be put under shelter and wpon board floors during this 
season to insure the immunity from the dreaded scourge to the native 
and imported equine race on the island of Puerto Rico. 

DISTRICT OF PONCE. 

Lieutenant Eames reports : The principal products are sugar cane, 
tobacco, coffee, bananas, oranges, limes, corn, besides a few vegeta- 
bles, and many tropical fruits unknown outside of the island, and 
which grow wilhout cultivation. 



CONDITIONS IN PUERTO EICO. 35 

A variety of rice is grown on the mountains without irrigation, but 
the grains are large and coarse and not up to the standard of the 
marsh-grown rice. The people are ignorant of gardening, and a great 
profusion of fine vegetables could be produced and the city market 
vastly improved by the introduction of good seeds and modern methods. 

Flowers are very little cultivated and professional florists are 
unknown. 

The principal j)lantations are of cane, tobacco, coffee, and bananas 
(which latter two are usually grown together). In the mountains are 
also large orange, lime, and lemon plantations. 

There are but few farms in the district and these are devoted to 
truck gardening. 

Plantations are usuallj' run on old-fashioned or even primitive 
lines, and would doubtless become more valuable were modern meth- 
ods introduced. 

The principal crops are sugar, tobacco, and coffee, and there is at 
present (June 1, 1899) no market whatever for them. 

Formerly the market was almost exclusively Spanish, and this has 
been taken away, while the almost x>rohibitive tariff which is placed 
In the United States on x^roducts of Puerto Rico, though it is United 
States territory, deprives the planters of any chance of creating a 
market for their goods in the States. 

The result of these deplorable conditions are at once felt by the 
planter, whose crop this year is T;orth about one-half of what it 
brought last year; for instance, a sack of coffee which in 1898 brought 
133 noAv sells — if at all — for 812.50. Until these conditions are 
changed there is no outlook for planters. 

Tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, sweet potatoes, and like vegetables 
are raised in small quantities near the cities, but because of inferior 
seeds and methods are not as fine as those grown in the United States. 

DISTRICT or SAN GERMAN. 

Lieutenant Hornbrook reports: The jurisdiction of San German 
comprises 30,651 acres of land. This is divided into 1,652 farms, 
including 8 big sugar plantations with steam machinery. The total 
output of sugar amounts to approximatel}^ 3,000,000 pounds a year. 
About 600,000 pounds of coffee is iDroduced j'early in the 70 plantations. 

The jurisdiction of Sabana Grande comprises 28,096 acres, with 974 
farms; 139 coffee j)lantations, with a j^early output of about 400,000 
pounds of coffee; 1 big sugar plantation and 4 small ones. 

The jurisdiction of Lajas comprises 36,569 acres, divided into 872 
farms, including 7 large sugar plantations run by steam machinery. 
The j^earlj^ output of sugar on these is about 2,500,000 pounds. On 5 
small plantations about 6,000 pounds of sugar are raised per year. 
Fourteen small coffee plantations produce approximate!}^ 30,000 
pounds of coffee per year. 

The jurisdiction of Cabo Rojo comprises 36,258 acres, with 886 
farms. On 10 of its large sugar plantations about 2,000,000 j)Ounds 
of sugar is manufactured yearly. Fourteen small plantations, with 
mills run by oxen; about 120,000 pounds of sugar is produced per 
year. The coffee raised on 16 small plantations amounts to about 
30,000 pounds per year. 

The principal crops are sugar, coffee, and tobacco. The sugar finds 
a market in the United States, the value being from 2 to 3 pesos per 
100 pounds. 



36 CONDITIONS IN PUERTO RICO- 

Coffee is mostly exported to Germany, France, Spain, and Cuba, 
and is sold at 11 to 14 pesos per 100 pounds. 

DISTRICT OF SAN JUAN. 

Lieutenant Blunt, under date of May 12, 1899, reports: 

Sugar and coffee are the principal products. The former is natural 
to the lowlands; the latter to the higher lands. Both are crudely cul- 
tivated. 

Tobacco and corn are next in importance. 

Immense fruit crops grow wild, but on account of bad transporta- 
tion facilities are not cultivated, and only cocoanuts are exported. 

Cattle are raised extensively; much valuable land is now left for 
grazing; hides are exported, but few cattle. 

Improved implements, good roads, and better stock are needed to 
develop this country. Land values and crops would be largely 
increased; roads are most important; once off the military roads, 
streams must be forded ; half loads only can be hauled, and there are 
several quite im]3ortant little towns reached only by trail. * * * 
The large sugar and coffee iDlantations are excellently carried on, and 
there are usually found foreigners or Spaniards of Avealth and edu- 
cation. 

Rio Piedras : Sugar is the staple ; several large mills are now in 
operation and more are expected. Many vegetables for use in San 
Juan are raised near b}', and the higher part of the township produces 
excellent tobacco. 

Carolina is an important sugar and cattle center. 

Rio Grande : The sugar from this district is shipped from the open 
port of Loiza, on the Atlantic Ocean. 

Bayamon: The township is devoted partly to sugar and partly to 
coffee, and the lack of roads has kept it all back. 

Navanjita and Sabana del Palma: Coffee and tobacco are somewhat 
grown ; the land is extremely fertile. 

Corosal and Toa Alta form another natural but undeveloped coffee 
section. 

Toa Baja, its port Dorado, and Vega Alta form another group of 
sugar and coffee plantations. This section is flourishing, has fair com- 
munications, * * * and very fertile soil. 

DISTRICT OF VIEQUES. 

Captain Vance reports: 

The country is mountainous, with but few, if any, valleys or plains, 
but exceedingly fertile, the principal industries being sugar and cat- 
tle, the latter, I think, of a superior quality to those of Puerto Rico. 
It is estimated that there are about 10,000 or 12,000 head of beef cattle 
on the island, and about 3,500 tons of sugar manufactured yearly. It 
could x)roduce three or four times this much easily. 

Horses are plentiful and are larger and stronger than those of 
Puerto Rico. 

The principal food of the lower classes is plantains (which takes 
the place of bread; in fact, they prefer it to bread), bananas, rice, 
sweet potatoes, beans, and dried codfish (when they can afford to buy 
the latter). Thej are all addicted to rum; some almost live on it. 
It can be bought here for 10 centavos a quart, and is one of the 
principal causes of the demoralization of the poorer classes. 



CONDITIONS IN PUEETO RICO. 37 

The land is so fertile here that every vegetable that I know of can 
be raised, thongh, strange to say, staple vegetables — Irish potatoes 
and onions — are not, the i3eople j)referring to bny them in the stores 
at exorbitant prices. Other vegetables are raised in small quantities. 



INLAND TRANSPORTATION FACILITIES. 

DISTRICT OF ARECIBO. 

Captain Macomb reports: The products of Lares, Camuy, Hatillo, 
and Bareelonita, though retarded by bad roads, force their yvRj through 
to the port of Arecibo. 

A new wagon road is being pushed through to Ponce (June, 1899), 
following generally the line of the Rio Grande. This central road of 
the island will rival in importance the militar}" road from San Juan to 
Ponce. With this new road and the electric railway up the Rio Grande 
and the new road being opened to the rich little town of Lares in opera- 
tion, Arecibo's future is bright. 

Regular line of coaches from railroad terminus at Camuy to Agua- 
dilla, single seat, S4.20; coach for three persons and driver, $9.60. ISTo 
line from Arecibo to Utuado, but coach for this road can be procured 
in either city at $9, or single seat $3; saddle horse, to go and return, 83. 

Xo line to San Sebastian and Lares ; the road will not permit the use 
of wheels. Saddle horse to go to Lares and return, ^3.60. 

Freight b}^ pack per quintal of 100 pounds : Arecibo to Utuado, 60 
cents in good weather, 90 cents in wet weather; cart, 4 oxen, 17.20 in 
good weather and from 812 to $15 in wet weather. Arecibo to Lares, 
ll.20 in good weather; carts in dry weather, 115, but road rarelj^ per- 
mits the use. 

DISTRICT OF AGUADILLA. 

Captain Mansfield reports: The inland transportation facilities at 
present (Maj^ 30, 1899) are bad. All products from Lares, San Sebas- 
tian, Isabela, Quebradillas, and other interior and coast towns must 
be transported on iDack horses or in ox carts to the nearest market 
for export, and this entails great expense to the producer. 

Good roads are essential, especially during rainy season, when the 
roads heretofore have been all but imx3assable at times. 

DISTRICT OF CAYEY. 

Captain Foster, under date of June 28, 1899, states: The main mili- 
tary road from San Juan to Ponce passes through the district, and 
the city is connected with Guayama and Arroyo on the south by an 
equally good military road. 

DISTRICT OF HUMACAO. 

Captain Dentler, under date of Maj" 16, 1899, states: Transporta- 
tion facilities are very poor. Roads are still very bad, though a great 
deal of work has been done ujDon them during the last two months. 
The mail transportation is overland on a pack mule, owing to the lack 
of railwaj^ facilities. 



38 CONDITIONS IN PUERTO RICO. 

DISTRICT OF MAYAGUEZ. 

Major Thomas makes report witliout date (probably Maj or June, 
1899), saying: 

The inland transportation facilities are rather j)oor. There is a 
good wagon road from Mayaguez to San German, with branches to 
Cabo Rojo and Hormigueros. From Mayaguez to Las Marias not yet 
completed; also one to Maricao not yet finished. Both will be excel- 
lent roads if finished in accordance with statements made by the 
superintendent of island road construction. 

From Maj^aguez to Aiiasco we have now a fine wagon road, capable 
of sustaining the heaviest traffic; the road is poor and almost impass- 
able from Aiiasco to Corsica; from San German to Sabana Grande the 
road is good ; but from the . latter place to Guanica and Yauco iDoor, 
mountainous, rocky, and much cut up. It is the Intention to continue 
work on this road until it is thoroughly reconstructed. 

From Las Marias to Maricao only a narrow path, not considered 
practicable for the ]3resent. 

The alcalde of Mayaguez, in a supplement to Major Thomas's report, 
says: As to inland transportation, it is comparatively poor in the 
whole jurisdiction. Roads available for the conveyance of fruits 
(products) become almost impassable in the rainy season, resulting 
in increased costs, consequently increasing the value of the products 
of the soil, preventing healthy competition with other countries. It 
is also an obstacle against small fruits reaching the city in sufiicient 
quantities to meet the demand. . 

SUBDISTRICT OF SAN GERMAN. 

Lieutenant Hornbrook says : The inland transportation facilities are 
very poor, the only means being ox carts and pack horses. 

DISTRICT OF PONCE. 

Lieutenant Fames reports : There is really but one good road in the 
district, i. e., the military road from Ponce to San Juan, although 
there are a few miles of good road leading out of -Ponce toward 
Adjuntas. As a rule the roads are almost inii3assable in the wet 
season and but little better in the dry. 

Ox teams and carts form the usual means of transportation, and 
elscAvhere pack burros and horses. 

From Ponce to San Juan a line of carriages is in operation, which 
makes the 82 miles in thirteen hours with five relays of horses, and at 
a cost of $30 Puerto Rican currency. It is proposed to supplant these 
with naphtha-motor carriages, a companj^ having been formed for that 
purpose in San Juan. 

Yauco is 22 miles by rail from Ponce, and has a good road to its 
port, Guanica, about 4 to 6 miles away. 

Yauco being at the end of the good roads to Ponce, both rail and 
wagon, it naturally becomes a starting point for pack trains, and long 
lines of patient beasts standing about the streets are, perhaps, its 
most familiar sight. 

Coamo is also the terminus of the pack trails leading to Barros and 
Barranquitas, small villages in the wildest and roughest parts of the 
island and in the midst of the best coffee lands of Puerto Rico. 

Juana Diaz, about 8 miles from Ponce and 12 from Coamo, * * * 



CONDITIONS IN PUERTO RICO. 39 

is also on the military road, being the last point for changing horses 
in the relay ride from Ponce to San Juan. 

■ Trails to Barros and Utuado bring coffee and tobacco from these 
points by means of the ubiquitous pack horse. 

Much work has been done and is still (May, 1899) being done on a 
wagon road from Ponce to Ad juntas, and when completed this well- 
situated little city will quickly spring into prominence as a coffee 
center. For years sturdy little ponies, laden with the pungent berry, 
have trudged through its narrow streets, bound for Yauco, Ponce, or 
Arecibo, but the poor roads about it have alwaj'^s kept it hidden from 
the vt'Orld. 

DISTRICT OF SAN JUAN. 

Lieutenant Blunt reports: Roads are most imx)ortant. Once off the 
military roads, streams must be forded, half loads on\j can be hauled, 
and there are several quite important little towns reached only by trail. 
Great improvements in these roads are in x3rogress. (The report was 
written May 12, 1899. ) About 13,000 men are repairing the main roads 
and building new ones. 

Bayamon. — The township is devoted i^artly to sugar and partlj^ to 
coffee, and the lack of roads has kept it all back. This is being rem- 
edied now, and the town will grow nicely. 

Navcuvjito ami Sahana Del Palma. — The country is very rough, and 
the trails are narrow and not improved in any way. The river Plata 
is usualljT^ fordable. 

Toa Bcija, its port, Dorado, and Vega Alia. — This section is flour- 
ishing and has fa^ir communications. 



RAILROADS; RAILROAD STOCKS, WHERE HELD; NUM- 
BER OF MILES CONSTRUCTED AND PROPOSED. 

DISTRICT OF ARECIBO. 

Captain Macomb says: It is presumed that this question will be 
fully answered from San Juan. It can be stated here that the com- 
pany known as the French Railroad Company has constructed a single- 
track line from San Juan west through Arecibo to Camuy. Here the 
rising ground, which continues to Aguadilla, made construction more 
difficult, and this part of the line, though surveyed, has not been com- 
pleted. The line commences again at Aguadilla and extends through 
Mayaguez to Hermigueros. Again comes a break in the line as far as 
Yauco. From this latter point the line is completed to Ponce. The 
name of the line is "The Puerto Rico Railway." Three classes of 
accommodations are i3rovided — first, second, and third. A special 
ticket is provided for military persons at something less than half the 
regular rates. The road is solidly built — steel and stone bridges and 
culverts, masonry supports, metal ties, stone ballast. The grade is 
quite irregula.r, and the road has many curves. The stock is gener- 
ally held in France, and I understand that it does not pay a dividend. 

Captain Mansfield reports, under date of May 30, 1899: The French 
Puerto Rican railroad, of meter gauge, extends from Mayaguez to 
Aguadilla, 28 miles; is projected to Arecibo, 31 miles farther, to con- 
nect with another branch of the same railroad extending to San Juan. 
There is a railroad extending from Afiasco, a station on the Puerto 



40 CONDITIONS IN PUERTO RICO, 

Rican railway, 5 miles north of Maj^agnez, toward San Sebastian and 
Lares, toward which points it is expected it will be completed. Some 
of the stock of this railroad is held by citizens of San Sebastian. No 
other railroad stock, so far as known, is held bj' citizens of Agua- 
dilla or anj^ other town in the district. 

DISTRICT OF HUMACAO. 

Captain Dentler, tmder date of May 16, 1899, says: There are no 
railways in the district. One railway was to have been built from 
the playa of ISTaguabo into the Nagnabo Valley by a Mr. William Bass, 
of Brooklyn, IST. Y., bnt after the grade was finished for this road work 
was stopped on account of the line of way being on government land, 
and it is doubtful if it will ever be finished. 

DISTRICT OF MAYAGUEZ. 

Major Thomas makes report without date (probably May or June, 
1899), as follows: A narrow-guage railroad traverses the country 
between the towns of Aguadilla on the north to Hormigueros on the 
south, passing through Aguada, Rincon, Anasco, and Mayaguez, 58 
kilometers. It follows the coast line from Aguac]illa to Mayaguez; 
from that i3oint to Hormigueros through the foothills. The roadbed 
is graded to San German, and it is reported that the compam' has 
resumed work on that part between San German and its present 
terminus. When it will be finished and in running order, or whether 
or not it is the present intention to complete the sahie to connect with 
the Yauco and Ponce branch, is not known, nor can it be definitelj'' 
ascertained here. 

This railroad is a French concern, entirelj^ managed by people in 
the interests of French stockholders, and the stock of this "flint-lock 
industry " being in the possession of people in France. For the- inter- 
ests of this island it would be most desirable if some enterjDrising 
American firm should freeze the present stockholders out and reor- 
ganize and comx^lete the line as originally foreshadowed and make it a 
paying investment. It is not a difficult engineering feet ; it can easilj^ 
be pushed through. All it wants is some money, skill, and a trifle of 
American energy to make it an accomplished fact. There is a branch 
railroad from Anasco to Lares and San Sebastian — that is, it was 
originally the intention to build it to the above-mentioned places, but 
it only succeeded in getting 6 miles out from Anasco, and is now 
tied up on the top of a hill called Alto Sano. There it hangs. This 
road, it was intended, should tap the rich coffee lands about San 
Sebastian and Lares. It can be bought reasonably (that is, it would 
require some figuring), and is or would be a paying investment if 
bought for what it is actually worth. The offices of this companj' are 
in Mayaguez; the general manager is in Mayaguez, and the stock or 
ownership of this mountain line will be found in this citj^, though it 
could not be ascertained directl3\ The line when completed will be 
35 kilometers in length, presents no difficult engineering problem, 
and all the trade of the region tapped would come directly to the city 
and port of Maj^aguez. 

SUBDISTRICT OF SAN GERMAN. 

Lieutenant Hornbrook says : No railroads have been constructed 
in this judicial jurisdiction. The proposed railroad will touch San 



CONDITIONS IN PUERTO RICO. 41 

German and Sabana Grande. It is graded from Hormigueros almost 
to Sabana Grande. 

DISTRICT OF PONCE. 

Lieutenant Eames reports: There is a narrow-gauge railroad from 
Ponce to Yauco, 23 miles, .with European engines and rolling stock, 
most of which was made in France. The rails are light, scarcely 
more than 50 pounds; the ties are metallic; the turntables, switches, 
etc., and fittings are old-fashioned. It is owned by the French rail- 
road comi3an3% with offices in Paris and San Juan, and most of the 
stock is owned in France. This companj^ has a franchise, and pro- 
poses to build a belt line around the island, about one-fifth of which 
is completed, but it will require several years to complete the line, 
and it will not pay for many years thereafter. 

DISTRICT OF SAN JUAN. 

Lieutenant / Blunt reports, under date of May 12, 18&9: Railroads 
extend from San Juan to Carolina and west to Arecibo along the coast. 
This road is owned and operated by Frenchmen, and its equipment 
is French. The roadbed, bridges, and grades are excellent. It is 
single track, with iron ties and rather light rails. The rolling stock 
is in good condition. There are two suburban roads — San Juan to 
Rio Piedras and Catano to Bayamon — both of which should have elec- 
tric power, both for economy and better service. The former has 
recently come into American hands (price unknown) and promises of 
great improvements are already made. The mileage of the French 
roads in this district is 44 miles; of the other roads, Smiles and 6 
miles, respectively. 



WATER POWER. 

DISTRICT OF ARECIBO. 

Captain Macomb says : All these streams (Rio Grande, Tanama, Rio 
Limon, Rio Arecibo, and the Rio Caunilla) are of rapid fall and furnish 
a never-failing power. 

West of Arecibo, in the Camuy district, is the Camuy River, another 
mountain stream furnishing abundant water and power. It rises 
southeast of Lares, flows northerly to the sea, cutting deeply through 
its limestone walls. Through a part of its course it passes under the 
unbroken limestone and becomes a lost river. 

Forming the boundary between the districts of Quebradillas and 
Isabela is the Guajataca River, another mountain stream of rapid fall 
and abundant flow. 

The Arecibo, south of coastal plain, and the Tanama, the Limon, 
the Caunilla, the Vivi, and, in fact, all its branches; the Camuj^ River, 
the Guajataca, the* Cibao (branch of Guajataca) can all furnish water 
power. 

The rainfall is so abundant that any mountain stream may be de- 
pended uj)on for water power. 

DISTRICT OF AGUADILLO. 

Captain Mansfield says: Available water power is considerable 
along the Guajataca River, in the northeast section of the district. 



42 CONDITIONS IN PUERTO KICO. 

and the varioiTS branches of the Auasco and Culebrina, about Lares 
and San Sebastian, and the Culebrina itself, in the vicinity of Moco 
and Aguadilla, and several small streams about Rincon. The 
amount of water power varies at different seasons of thej^ear. Some 
of it has been utilized in the past. 

DISTRICT OF CAYEY. 

Captain Foster reports, under date of June 28, 1899 : La Plata, the 
longest river in the island, traverses the district, and would afford 
water power at almost any point of its course. 

DISTRICT OF HUMACAO. 

Captain Dentler, under date of May 16, 1899, says: The RioBlanca 
would furnish very great water power. It is a stream 50 feet wide, 
with an average depth of 3 feet; falls 2,000 feet in 2 miles of its 
length, being in places a succession of small cataracts and rapids. 
This river rises on the south side of El Yunque, the highest point of 
the Luquilio Mountains, and flows southward into ISTaguabo Valley, 
where it turns east and empties into the ocean at the Playa of 
Naguabo, on the Bay of Humacao. 

DISTRICT OF MAYAGUEZ. 

Major Thomas reports-- The water power is most excellent all over 
the island. By a system of dams and reservoirs, easily constructed, 
the water could be utilized in a dozen different ways — for sugar mills, 
coffee (mills), electric lights, electric roads, all kinds of manufactur- 
ing, and irrigating purposes when necessarj^ in certain localities. 

SUBDISTRICT OF SAN GERMAN. 

There is only one small water i30wer in San German, on a coffee 
plantation. 

DISTRICT OF PONCE. 

Lieutenant Eames reports : ■ There is no available water power in 
the district, principally because of the A'ariable amount of water in 
the streams. At times this water rushes with such a sudden and 
violent force and in such an increased volume that no machinery 
could stand against it, and masonry provision against this increase 
would cost so much as to make it prohibitive. 

A short time ago the Rio Portugues, when "up," swept a 200-foot 
steel wagon bridge from its abutments and deposited it some 200 feet 
downstream, although the bed of this bridge was 20 feet from mean 
height of water and was strongly anchored to the masonry abutments. 
To-day, at the end of the dry season, one can walk dry-shod on stones 
across this stream. 

DISTRICT OF SAN JUAN. 

Lieutenant Blunt reports, under date of May 12, 1899: There is 
plenty of water power in the principal streams. None is used at pres- 
ent. Rio Piedras supplies the city of San Juan and suburbs with 
what water is there used. The rivers Loiza, Bayamon, Plata, and Negro 



CONDITIONS IN PUERTO RICO. 43 

all liave plenty of fall and witli dams plenty of water to afford great 
power. Fresliets would make strong and expensive dams necessary. 

The absence of coal renders this form of jjower so necessary that 
the increased expense would be a small consideration. 

Naranjito and Sabana del Palma: The river Plata is usually ford- 
able, but has a great amount of water for supply and power. 



POPULATION, KNOWN OR ESTIMATED, CHAR- 
ACTER OF. 
I 

PUERTO RICO AS AN ISLAND. 

Major Glassford makes.no specific report under this head, though 
sotae of his general statements relate indirectly to it. (See '"Civic 
conditions.") 

Captain Macomb, in his report on the district of Arecibo, says : 

The population of the island is estimated at some 800,000 persons. 
Of this far the greater portion, say eight-tenths, is in the interior; 
more thickly settled near small villages, but cabins and rude homes 
are encountered everywhere. 

It is usually stated that the white race is in excess in tlie island, 
and where a distinction is made between negro and white this is true. 
But mam^ of the so-called white race have a decided color — a reddish 
brown not unlike the color of those persons in the United States who 
have more or less Indian blood. In this case it is not Indian blood, 
as we are told that the original inhabitants of the island perished 
within the fifty years following the Spanish colonization. It is not a 
negro strain, for the hair is, though usually called black, a deep brown, 
straight and lanky. The features, too, are not negritic. Did we not 
know it were impossible, it would be said these people have an Asiatic 
origin. The color is probably Moorish and due to the intermixture 
of the Spanish and Moors over a thousand years ago. One frequently 
encounters Spaniards recently from the old country with as decided a 
color as those described. 

The island has manj'^ negroes and mulattoes, being the emancipated 
slaves and their descendents. 

The ignorance of the laboring classes is beyond America^n compre- 
hension. Reading and writing are unknown to them. Their food is 
less nourishing than that of convicts in our most severe penitentiaries — 
food that would sustain life in an idle ]3erson, but which means 
aufemia and slow starvation to the workingman, whose tissues recjuire 
daily renewal. 

The wages of the " j)eon," the farm laborer, is from 2 to 4 reals — 
that is, from 15 to 30 cents, American money — per working day. These 
peons are usually married and have families, sometimes more than 
one wife. I say "married," but the legal ceremony has in many cases 
been omitted from the entire lack of means with which to pay the 
charges of the priest and the government. 

These wages are not generally spent in the towns or cheaper mar- 
kets, but at the store of the farm where the peons are employed. At 
these stores the prices are in excess of those obtainable in the towns, 
but it is im^DOSsible for the workman to go so far to spend his little 
money. 



44 CONDITIONS IN PUERTO RICO. 

From these causes the poorer people are constantlj" verging on 
starvation, and any check to their worlv brings about this condition. 

Sucli a check has recently (the report is without date, but was 
received at deiDartment headquarters June 30, 1899) occurred — one 
result of the Spanish- American war. 

Naturally the proprietors did not put as much land into cultivation 
the past year as usual. They could not be sure of garnering their 
crops with marching troops on the island, and they could not be sure 
of a market with Spanish ports closed to them and American ports 
not yet opened. Besides, the lives and iDroperty of the Spanish iDro- 
prietors were not secure in the time of changing flags. 

But the people — and I discuss the poor, working class — ai^e, upon 
the whole, a gentle, patient, uncomplaining lot, living in ignorance 
and penury, generally polite, and willing to work in a plodding, unde- 
monstrative way. Their very gentleness has permitted the unjust 
scale of wages thej^ receive to become the custom. ' 

Partly this and the demands of the Spanish Government of the pro- 
prietors have forced them to reduce the wages to their present unjust 
scale. In the United States general education and the newspapers 
and labor unions forever prevent auy such abuse. 

The crjdng need of the island is education, and then more education. 

Estimated ijopulation of Arecibo, Hatillo, Camuy, Quebradillas, and Isahela. 



Juris- 
dictipn. 



Town. 



Arecibo 

Hatillo 

Camuy 

Quebradillas . 
isabela 



38,000 
13,000 
14, 000 
14,000 
14,000 



8,000 
600 
1,000 
3,200 
1,500 



Character of population: Generally of laboring classes, known as 
peons, working for the farm owners; uneducated, quiet, and content. 

DISTRICT OF AGUADILLA. 

Captain Mansfield reports: The district of Aguadilla contains the 
towns of — 

Quebradillas, population 800 

Isabela, population _ . . . 900 

Lares, population ... 2, 000 

San Sebastian, population _ - 1, 400 

Rincon, population - 500 

Aguada, population , . - 600 

Aguadilla, population . — 6, 000 

The total population of the district given b}^ the last census, some 
years ago, was 83,000, but it is estimated from reports furnished me 
as now being at least 85,000. This includes towns and country. 

The character of the population is reported as good and hospitable. 
From mj^ own observations, after frequently meeting all classes and 
visiting the interior, I have concluded that the mass of the population 
is revj ignorant, so much so as to be dangerous if improperly dealt 
with bj^ designing and unscruiDulous persons. I say this because only 
12 or 13 per cent of the iDopulation of the whole island can both read 
and write, while 1.8 per cent more can only read. It must be assumed 
that the majorit}^ of those who know how to read and write live in the 



CONDITIONS IN PUERTO RICO. 45 

large towns, leaving qnite a small percentage — excepting large plant- 
ers, not over 5 per cent — in the country who know how to read, and 
write. 

It has been stated by Mr. Mniioz Rivera that only abont 40 per cent of 
the population have colored blood in their veins. To get such a per- 
centage octoroons and perhaps even some (luadroons must be classed 
as white, for I hardly think anj^ intelligent man who has been among 
the people much will fail to credit 60 to 70 per cent_of the population 
at least as having colored blood in their veins, and that seems like a 
low estimate. If no one with less colored blood than half-blood is 
counted as colored, of course 40 per cent would be a fair estimate 
and would include negroes. 

The people seem willing to 'work, even at starvation wages, and 
they seem to be docile and grateful for anything done for them" They 
are emotional, apt to make idols of some one of their number, and 
be led about by him only to pull him to pieces later on. 

When American ideas are once inculcated into the people they will 
never let go of them and will benefit by them. 

It will be hard, however, to eradicate the evils of centuries in a few 
years, but it will require a long time. They must be educated, not 
alone by books, but by coming more in contact with the rest of the 
world. 

DISTRICT OF CAYEY. 

Captain Foster reports, under date .of June 28, 1899: The popula- 
tion of the district of Gayey is about 14,000, and of this number about 
3,500 live in the city. 

DISTRICT OF HUMACAO. 

Captain Dentler, under date of May 16, 1899, says: The townships 
comprising the district and their population are : 

Humacao 15. 000 

Fajardo - 10,000 

Naguabo --. 10,000 

Yabticoa 13, 000 

Maunabo ,_... 5,000 

In the towns themselves, according to a census recenth^ taken, the 
population is estimated to be as follows: 

Humacao . ..- 6, 000 

Fajardo .... 2,500 

Naguabo.- .. 1,000 

Yabucoa 2,050 

Maunabo 400 

Patillas 1,000 

Luquillo - 600 

The people here are very poor. The majority of them obtain their 
livelihood working in large plantations, but the wages received by 
them are scarcely sufficient to subsist them. Recently a great many 
have been receiving relief from the Government at the rate of 10 cen- 
tavos per day, allowed by recent orders. This, however, has been 
stopped, and ail the alcaldes of the district have been directed to act 
accordingly. Class distinctions are very closely drawn, there being 
but few rich and many in dire poverty. 



46 CONDITIONS IN PUERTO RICO. 

DISTRICT OF MAYAGUEZ. 

Major Thomas reports (without date) as follows: 

The district of Mayaguez embraces a jurisdiction of nearly 30,000 
inhabitants, mostly white. * * * A recent election, if it may be 
so designated, attaches Hormigueros to Mayaguez for municipal and 
road jurisdiction; in all, about 120,000 inhabitants in the department 
or subdistrict of Mayaguez. The department was established before 
the conquest of the island and has not been changed. 

Mayaguez (city) has a population of about 25,000. 

Hormigueros, population of about 500. 

Anasco, ijopulation of about 3,000. 

San German, population of 8,000. 

Sabana Grande, population about 5,000, composed of white, black, 
and those of mixed blood. 

Maricao, population of 7,000, composed of all classes known on the 
island. 

Las Marias, population of 700. 

Lajas, population of about 500. 

Cabo Rojo, population about 3,000; that of the jurisdiction about 
16,000. 

In a supplementary report, submitted by the alcalde of Mayaguez, 
it is stated : 

The city of Mayaguez contains 37,983 inhabitants, classified as fol- 
lows: 25,108 white, 9,275 mulattoes, and 3,600 negroes. 

SUBDISTRICT OF SAN GERMAN. 

Lieutenant Hornbrook reports as follows: Population known is as 
follows : 

Jurisdiction of San German .- - _-. , .. 19,802 

Jurisdiction of Cabo Rojo , . - 15, 657 

Jurisdiction of Sabana Grande - . 10, 087 

Jurisdiction of Lajas - - 8, 125 

Total -- 53,671 

The judicial jurisdiction of San German has one city, San German, 
with population 5,321; three towns, Sabana Grande, with population 
2,100; Lajas, with population 350; Cabo Rojo, with population 3,000. 

DISTRICT OF PONCE. 

Lieutenant Blunt reports the population of the cities in the district 
is as follows, the figures being from the census of 1898: 

Ponce -- -- 24.654 

Yauco .- -..- 8,000 

Coamo - 6,000 

JuanaDiaz ..- 4,000 

Aibonito 3,000 

Adjuntas . 3,000 

Guayanilla.,. . 3,000 

Peiiuelas --.. 800 

Guanica . . 500 

Whole district 300,000 

Of these, about 20,000 are native Spaniards, 270,000 are native 
Puerto Ricans, and 10,000 are natives of St. Thomas, Cuba, and other 
neighboring islands. 

Excepting those in the Armj^, there are but few Americans in the 



CONDITIONS IN PUERTO RICO. 47 

district, probablj" not more than 1,000, but this number is constantly 
increasing. 

Spanish is the common language of the people, but many are learn- 
ing English, and in nearly every business house and store there is at 
least one person wlio speaks English. 

The natives are laz}- and dirty, but are very sharp and cunning, 
and the introduction of American ideas disturbs them but little, they 
being indifferent to the advantages offered. 

DISTRICT OF SAN JUAN. 

Lieutenant Blunt reports, under date of Maj^ 12, 1899: 

The population of this district is about 95,000. A very small num- 
ber are foreigners, i:)robabl3^ not over 4,000. These figures are based 
on various censuses, 1896, 1897, and 1898, and the foreign x3opulation 
now is greatly increased. 

All tji^es of black and white are mixed here. In the back country 
the Spanish and Puerto Rican blood seems to have been kept purer; 
in the city the mixture of negroes and north of Europe whites with 
the natives gives rise to every gradation of color. 

Rio Piedras, about 8 miles from San Juan, * * * has a popu- 
lation of about 11,000 in the township and nearly 2,000 in the pueblo 
itself. 

Carolina, with a population of 10,200, is an important sugar and 
cattle center. 

The townships of Rio Grande and Loiza together contain about 
6,000 people. 

Baj^^amon, another suburban town, has a pueblo population of 2,500, 
with about 5,000 more in the country around. 

Naranjito and Sabana Del Palma: The towns are small and unim- 
portant; the total population is about 11,000. 

Corosal and Toa Alta : The i3opulation of these sections is about 
7,600, and these people seem rougher than those elsewhere. 

Toa Baja, its port, Dorado, and the village of Vega Alta : The total 
population is estimated at 11,000. 

DISTRICT OF VIEQUES. 

Captain Vance reports: Vieques has a population of five or six 
thousand; Culebra, eight or nine hundred. About 1,000 are English- 
speaking negroes imported from neighboring islands to harvest the 
sugar-cane crops. (For description of population, conditions, etc., 
see heading " Civic conditions.") 



VITAL STATISTICS. 

DISTRICT OF AGUADILLA. 

Captain Mansfield reports, under date of May 30, 1899: 
Available vital statistics: There were 3,006 births in the district the 
past year and 2,680 deaths. This gives a j)ercentage of 37 and 31, 
respectively. The number of illegitimate births is 25 ijer cent for the 
district. The town of Lares, however, reports that the illegitimate 
births are 33 per cent of the total, and the alcalde of Aguadilla 
reports that in this town the rate of illegitimate births is 50 per cent. 



48 CONDITIONS IN PUERTO RICO. 

These figures are large, but, on inquiry, am told that they are about 
correct, as it has been difficult for people to get married without great 
expense. A great many of those reported as illegitimate births are 
the children of couples that have been living together as man and 
wife for manj^^ years. 

There were 399 marriages during the past year. The chief causes 
of death are given in the order named : Consumption, -ansemia (re- 
ported as lack of proper food), typhus fever, jaundice, bronchitis, 
pneumonia, and smallpox. 

In closing this report I wish particularly to emphasize the fact that 
anaemia is given as one of the chief causes of disease and death in this 
district. I have called it " ansemia," but in receiving reports from the 
eight different towns and villages of this district it is reported as 
' ' lack of proper food "^ — in other words, starvation. In only one place 
was the word anaemia used. 

It properly has first place, though I have given it second. It seems 
hard that there should be suffering for want of proper food on an 
island so rich, fertile, and xjroductive. 

My own observation to a large extent confirms the reports of the 
lack of proper food. The countr}^ people live mostlj^ on bananas, 
yams, and rice, and fresh pork when they can get it, which generally 
they can not, for they have not the means to buy it and do not raise 
enough of their own. 

The people in the large towns are better off, as they have more work, 
get more fish, and some meat. If all could get employment, of course 
the conditions of the masses would be improved. Just at present the 
question of money exchange has much to do with the masses. (See 
remarks under "Civic Conditions.") 

DISTRICT OF CAYEY. 

Captain Foster makes no report. 

DISTRICT OF HUMACAO. 

Captain Dentler, under date of May 16, 1899, says: Vital statistics 
are well kept by the municipalities, whose records run back for many 
j'^ears. The following is a list of the deaths in this city during the 
following months of this year: January, 49; February, 32; March, 39; 
April, 28— total, 148. Births: January, 27; February, 21; March, 30; 
April, 12— total, 90. 

DISTRICT OF MAYAGUEZ. 

Major Thomas reports: 

City of Mayaguez : The rate of mortality is low, the births exceed- 
ing the deaths by 50 per cent. 

The rate of mortality in each district (jurisdiction or township) is 
not known, but it is far less than the birth rate. The population is 
increasing fast. In a few years this island will be overcrowded. No 
immigration from the different islands should be allowed or encour- 
aged. Only Americans should be permitted to come here and enter 
into business. All other classes, kinds, and color should be excluded 
from this time forward. 

The healthf ulness of thi s district is shown by the low rate of mortality. 



CONDITIONS IN PUERTO RICO. 49 

SUBDISTRICT OF SAN GERMAN. 

Principal diseases are ansemia, smallpox, malarial and typhus fevers, 
tuberculosis, tetanus (infantile). 



San German 

San German (1897) 

Cabo Rojo (average 4 years) . 
Lajas (average of 3 years) -.. 



Births. 



Deaths. 



650 


930 


684 


6.52 


640 


491 


320 


228 



DISTRICT OF PONCE. 

Lieutenant Eanies reports : 

Records for the city of Ponce, which are typical for the district, 
show for the calendar year 1898: Births, 1,164; deaths, 1,826, or a 
percentage of about 4 deaths to each 100 inhabitants, as these figures 
are based upon the population of the jurisdiction of Ponce, which has 
about 49,000 inhabitants. 

Consumption, nutritive diseases, and syphilitic diseases are the 
most common. 

Ponce has just (the report Vas written in May, 1899) been through 
an epidemic of smallpox, but the very low death rate would seem to 
point out the fact that this disease is not as virulent here as it is in 
the United States. 

B}' far the greatest number of deaths are of children under 12 years 
of age. 

DISTRICT OF SAN JUAN. 

Lieutenant Blunt, under date of May 12, 1899, says: Vital statistics 
are unknown. No records were kept by the Spanish local government. 
It is stated bj^ local physicians that the death rate is low, except in San 
Juan, where it is above the normal for a city of its size. The lack of 
bathing facilities and the general absence of sewers and water supply 
are everywhere noticeable. Water was an article of luxury rather 
than of necessity. 



SCHOOLS. 

DISTRICT OF ARECIBO. 

Captain Macomb reports : 

Arecibo. — In town, 3 private (a kindergarten), 5 public; in the dis- 
tricts, 1 district school in each of 18 barrios (townships). But the 
schools have not (at date of report, June, 1899) sufficient books or 
appliances for proper education. Much is being done by the Ameri- 
can authorities, but still more remains to be done. 

Hatillo. — In town, 1 school; rural, 1 in each of 15 barrios. 

Camuy. — In town, 2 schools; rural, 1 in each of 17 barrios. 

Quehrachllas. — In town, 2 schools; rural, 1 in each of 15 barrios. 

Isahela. — In town, 2 schools; rural, 1 in each of 15 barrios. 

The crying need of the island is education, and then more educa- 
tion. The ignorance of the laboring class is beyond American com- 
prehension. Reading and writing are unknown to them. 
13100 4 



50 CONDITIONS IN PUERTO RICO. 

DISTRICT OF AGUADILLA. 

Captaiu Mansfield reports under date of May 30, 1899: 

There are 38 public seliools in the district; the number of schol- 
ars in them is :2,308, of whom 599 are girls. There are 5 private 
schools, with 140 pupils, of whom 95 are girls. There are 57 school- 
teachers, of whom 3 are women. 

The state of education is backward, and all alcaldes report it as 
being "behind the times." I certainly believe this to be true, as from 
my observation there are no schools that would in the United States 
be called such. 

There are no school houses or buildings. Rooms are rented for 
school purposes by the towns, which are generally behind in the pay- 
ment of rent as well as salaries. There will have to be an entire 
reform in the educational system. 

DISTRICT OF CAYEY. 

Captain Foster, under date of June 28, 1899, says: There are quite 
a number of schools, but the general educational conditions are 
deplorable, a large proportion of the population being unable to read 
and write. 

DISTRICT OF HUMACAO. 

Captain Dentler, under date of May 16, 1899, says; There has been 
improvement in the public schools of this district since they have been 
under the supervision of General Eaton. Each schoolhouse has 
been presented with an American flag, which the pupils have been 
taught to revere and cherish. Mixed schools for both boys and girls, 
like" those in the United States, to which we are accustomed, are 
unknown. Many of the instructors never even heard of such schools. 
The state of education has been very backward. Scarcely 20 per cent 
are of the educated class. 

DISTRICT OF MAYAGUEZ. 

The report of Major Thomas, undated, but made in May or June, 
1899, states: 

The school system of the district is at a low ebb. Only a few public 
schools and no private ones of any description. Those in outlying 
localities are in low, obscure, ramshackle concerns called "casitas," 
and are patronized by a number of half-clad, barefoot, bareheaded 
urchins from 4 to 10 years old. The same remark applies to the school 
for girls. The schools for boys and girls are entirely separate and 
under the control of men and women teachers, respectively. 

There are no public-school buildings. Xothing has ever been accom- 
plished looking to that end, the people here being satisfied with what 
was already provided : children of people having means were always 
sent away for educational purposes, the Spanish people, as a class, not 
lending jiny encouragement to the i3ublic-school system. 

There has been quite an improvement in the matter of attendance 
and management of the schools since January last. In all I visited I 
found many bright little fellows, though in rags, evidently anxious to 
gain knowledgeand to become familiar with the English language. 

The cities and towns of this district should be forced to build suit- 



T!ONDITIONS IN PUERTO RICO. 51 

able sclioolhouses and compulsory education enforced in all places — 
" shoes or no shoes." 

In a supplement to Major Thomas' report the alcalde of Mayaguez 
says: There are the following schools (in the Jurisdiction of Maya- 
guez) : One for girls, 25 elementary schools, also a night school for 
adults; besides, tiie city has a college of secondary instruction, called 
the Lyceum of Mayaguez, and another of primarj^ and secondary 
instruction, recently established under the name of "Municipal Insti- 
tute," and several other priv^ate schools for j'oung children. 

In a report from the alcalde of Cabo Rojo he saj^s: Public instruc- 
tion in this locality has 11 primary, 2 elementary, 8 county (country), 
and 1 private schools. 

SUBDISTRICT OF SAN GERMAN. 

Lieutenant Hornbrook reports: There are 12 public schools in San 
German, 8 for males and 4 for females, and 2 private schools for males; 
Sabana Grande has 5 public schools, 4 for males and 1 for females; 
Cabo Rojo has 11 public schools, 8 for males and 1 for females; Lajas 
has 6 public schools, 5 for males and 1 for females. State of educa- 
tion in town is fair; in the country low. 

DISTRICT OF PONCE. 

Lieutenant Eames reports in May, 1899: 

In each citj^ of the district is at least 1 public school, and in Ponce 
(including the jurisdiction of Ponce) are 42 public schools and 7 pri- 
vate ones, 1 of the public schoola being a large school where English 
is taught by American school-teachers, under the able guidance and 
organization of Chaplain Sutherland, of the Nineteenth United States 
Infantry. 

About 3,000 scholars attend school daily the year through, except- 
ing the several Christmas holidays and on fiestas, or holidays, of 
which there are manj^ 

There are about 1,000 truants, sick, etc., who average two or three 
days in the week only. 

The school hours are from 8 to 11 and from 1 to 3. 

Generally speaking, the poorer classes, which are of course the more 
numerous, are illiterate, but among these a great many can both read 
and write besides having some knowledge of arithmetic. 

This is due to a curriculum peculiar^ adapted to a people who have 
little time or inclination for schooling. They are first taught reading 
and writing and the elementary part of arithmetic, together with the 
geography of Puerto Rico, and formerlj^ of Spain, now that of the 
United States. Then, if the student can continue, other subjects are 
taken up, and those already begun are enlarged upon, the idea being 
that if a pupil can spend Ijut one year in school at the end of that 
time he can read and write sufficiently well for practical purposes, 
and as each succeeding year passes what he has learned has been com- 
plete ; and if he leaves in the middle of a season or at the end of the 
first semester he does not leave v\dth a lot of studies begun, but, each 
semester being complete in itself, he leaves it with a complete knowl- 
edge of the subjects studied, albeit the number and extent of the 
studies may have been very limited. 

It is but a refinement of the old "Three R's" curriculum of the 
district school. 



62 CONDITIONS IN PUERTO RICO. 

DISTRICT OF SAN JUAN. 

Lieutenant Blunt, under date of May 12, 1899, says: 

Public schools are general, those for boys and girls being separate. 
The instruction is largely oral and the text-books primitive. Already 
the English language is everywhere taught. The general state of 
education is low. In the country it is unusual to find a person who 
can read and write, ex(!ept the verj^ easiest matter. The Spanish lan- 
guage is not spoken jjurely; many pronunciations and constructions 
are Puerto Rican and hardly recognizable to educated Spaniards. 

The schools in the city (of San Juan) consist of 18 public and 1 pri- 
vate, with an enrollment of 1,478 scholars. This explains the lack of 
education. Of about 8,000 children of school age onlj^ about one-sixth 
attend school. There is 1 high school, low grade compared to ours. 

Rio Piedras has 3 schools. 

Rio Grande and Loiza have schools. 

Toa Baja has several schools and 1 church. 

DISTRICT OF VIEQUES. 

Captain Vance reports, under date of April 25, 1899: The schools 
are, like everything else, created principally for the benefit of the 
teachers rather than the children. There are 6 'public schools on 
the island — 2 in the town and 4 in the country — supported by the 
municipal government, but, as far as I can learn, accomplish nothing. 
Attendance is not compulsory, which would have to be the case if any 
of the lower-class children attended. 



CITIES AND TOWNS. 

Available Maps and Prints. 

district of arecibo, 

Captain Macomb reports : 

The town of Arecibo is an important center, being the natural out- 
let for all the northwest third of the island. The products of Lares, 
Camuy, Hatillo, and Barceloneta, though retarded hy bad roads, force 
their way through to the port of Arecibo. 

A new wagon road is being iDUshed through to Ponce, following gen- 
erally the line of the Rio Grande. This central road of the island 
will rival in importance the military road from Ponce to San Juan, 
With this road and the electric railway up the Rio Grande and the 
new road being opened to the rich little town of Lares in operation, 
Arecibo's future is bright. 

But the port is at present treated by visiting vessels as a mere open 
roadstead, no proper protection existing against the northeast breezes. 
On this account vessels lie well out with steam up, prepared to slip 
anchor and go to sea upon the appearance of a storm. All this can 
be avoided bj^ improving the harbor as indicated on the inclosed plan. 
With the large amount of stone available in the so-called "Signal- 
station hill" it is believed that an economical breakwater can be 
constructed. If this is done and the river dredged so as to afford a 
depth of 3 feet in the channel from its mouth to the town, the business 
of the port will rapidly increase. 



CONDITIONS IN PUERTO RICO. 53 

The town of Arecibo is built upon a sandstone deposit just west of 
tlie mouth of the Rio Grande de Arecibo. This sandstone is imper- 
fect and seems to be an old sand hill, in which the particles of sand 
are slightly bound bj^ a bond of limestone. The view from the town 
is a beautiful one, raised as it is above the general surface. Landward 
the northern face of the table-land forms an amphitheater some 4 or 5 
miles distant, in which the middle distance is covered with brilliant 
green cane, with the Rio Grande tracing through its center a winding 
line of silver. 

This entire section from Arecibo westward daily receives the north- 
east breezes from the ocean. It is salubrious and rarely unpleasantly 
warm. 

DISTRICT OF ARECIBO. 

All the towns are built on the usual Spanish sj^stem of a central 
plaza, upon which face the church and the ciiy hall or alcaldia. 

In the city of Arecibo the streets about the plaza and along the 
principal roads, east, west, and south, are macadamized. In the poorer 
parts they are sandy, without pavements or sidewalks. On the better 
streets the sidewalks are generally very narrow and of a cement con- 
glomerate. 

The central plaza is very pretty, with a fountain and growing flow- 
ers. Size, 300 by 150 feet. The buildings facing on the plaza are 
usually adobe, covered with cement or a gravel conglomerate; else- 
where wood prevails. 

In the other towns mentioned (Barceloneta, Hatilla, Camuy, Que- 
bradillas, and Isabela) the paved streets are those through which the 
coast road passes. 

Public or semipublic institutions mentioned by Captain Macomb in 
his list of merchants, professions represented, etc. , town of Arecibo : 
One hospital; 1 market; fire department — 1 old pump and a new fire 
engine ; 1 theater — capacity, 600 persons ; 1 lifeboat and 1 life-saving 
station; 1 cemetery — 2 in country. 

Table of distances. 

From Arecibo. on coast road west, to— Miles. 

Hatillo-..' - --- - ---- --- 7i 

Camtiy River bridge 8J 

Camuy - 8f 

Quebradillas .-- 16i 

Guajataca - 18i 

Isabela - 23^ 

Aguadilla - - - 35 

From Arecibo, on coast road southeast of town, to — 

Barceloneta --- 14| 

Manati --- -- 19i 

Vega Bajo -- 27 

Dorado - - - - 35i 

Bayamon,. .-- 44^ 

From Arecibo. on south road, to — 

Tanama - - - ^i 

Joboa (not given. ) 

Utuado - 32 

Adjuntas - - — — 31 

Ponce - 45 

From Arecibo, on old Lares road, to— 

Pajuil --- .-...-- --- — 6 

Crossing, Camuy River 10 

Callejones .- - 17 

Guajataca bridge .- - - 23i 

Lares - - - 24 



54 CONDITIONS IN PUERTO KICO. 

From Arecibo to — Miles. 

Lares, new road ._ 20 

San Sebastian - --. 39 

Moca 39 

Aguadilla .-- - - .,- 44 

From Arecibo to — 

Lares ... 24 

Las Marias ..-..,. 37^ 

Mayagnez .' 53 

From Camu3' to — 

Lares via Hatillo 19^ 

Piedra Gorda 7 

Los Pnertos 9 

San Sebastian ... 19^ 

From Camny los Pnertos to Lares ... 22 

From Quebradillas to Piedra Gorda. . . 6 

DISTRICT OF AGUADILLA. 

Captain Mansfield reports, under date of May 30, 1899, the district 
of Aguadilla contains : 

Quebradillas, population . 800 

Isabela, population 900 

Lares, population •. 2, 000 

San Sebastian, population , 1, 400 

Rincon, population 500 

Aguada. population . . 600 

Aguadilla, population ... .-. 6,000 

Aguadilla is the largest town in the district, and is a seaport town 
with an excellent deep-water harbor; a breakwater only on the north 
side is necessary for protection. The water slioals just where the 
breakwater is necessary, and there is rock and other building material 
to be had riglit on the shore within a few hundred yards. The water 
is quite deep -right up to shore ; the expense of building a break- 
water would be comi)aratively small, and would be less than that 
needed to protect almost any other harbor on tliis island other than 
those that are landloclced. 

Aguadilla is the natural port for the whole district, and would be 
such with good communications with the interior. There are several 
large firms, shippers of coffee and importers of all kinds of goods. 

Lares is the next largest town in the district, and is back in the 
mountains, IS or 20 miles from the sea, and at an elevation of 1,900 
or 2,000 feet. It is almost inaccessible at present in any way except 
on horseback. It is in the midst of a very rich coffee district. 

San Sebastian is the next largest town, and is 14 miles east of 
Aguadilla and 9 miles west of Lares; it has an elevation of some 1,400 
feet and is also in a coffee district, and is near the Culebrina River. 
It is very prettily located. Has several large firms who deal in coffee. 

Moca is a village on the road from San Sebastian to Aguadilla, 9 
miles from the former and 5 miles from the latter; it is in a coffee and 
also a sugar district. 

The Salvador- Amell sugar plantation, worth about 350,000 pesos, is 
near Moca, and is fitted with modern machinery for making sugar by 
the centrifugal process. It also has water power near at hand from 
the Culebrina River. 

Aguada is on the railway from Aguadilla to Mayagnez, and is sup- 
posed to be the oldest town on the island. There is little coffee there, 
but many cocoanuts, peanuts, guava, and firewood. 



CONDITIONS IN PUERTO RICO. 55 

Rincoii is 7 miles south of Aguada, and a station on the I*uerto 
Rioan Railway. It is a small village. There is mnch sugar raised 
about there, also many cocoanuts, sweet potatoes, etc. 

Quebradilla is on a hill aboiit 1 mile east of the Guajacata River, 
and on the mail route from Aguadilla to Arecibo. It is a small place. 
There is mucli tobacco, some sugar, some coffee, and many peanuts 
raised there, and also yams and sweet potatoes. 

Isabela is the fourth toAvn in size in the district, and is on high 
ground on the north coast, near the sea. Some coffee is raised about 
there, and considerable sugar and much tobacco. It is a compara- 
tively dry locality, where sometimes in tlie dry season there is consid- 
erable' drought, and there are no running streams or springs there, 
the population being dependent on wells and cisterns for water. 

Around Quebradillas and San Sebastian there has been during the 
past year much destruction of property and pillaging of coffee planta- 
tions. 

It is impossible at present to get any maps and pri]its, especially 
such as would be of value. 

DISTRICT OF CAYEY. 

Captain Foster makes no report. 

DISTRICT OF HUMACAO. 

Captain Dentler, under date of May 16, says: In the towns them- 
selves, according to a census recently taken, the population is esti- 
mated to be as follows : 

Humacao - 6,000 

Fajardo-. --- - 2,500 

Naguabo • --- -- 1.000 

Yabucoa. 2,050 

Manuabo - --- 400 

Patillas - 1,000 

Luquillo 600 

DISTRICT OF MAYAGUEZ. 

Major Thomas makes report, without date, as follows: 

The following cities or towns are included and belong to the district 
of Mayaguez: Anasco, Cabo Rojo, Hormigueros, Las Marias, Lajas, 
Maricao, Mayaguez, San German, Sabana Grande, and a recent elec- 
tion, if it may be so designated, attaches Hormigueros to Mayaguez 
for municipal and road jurisdiction; in all, about 120,000 inhabitants 
in the department or subdistrict of Mayaguez. The department is as 
established before the conquest of the island, and has not been changed. 

Mayaguez. — Mayaguez possesses the only street-car system on the 
island, which raises her to a unique position in this respect. This line 
answers the purpose very well, is economically managed, and renders 
fairly good service. It also has an electric-light plant, ice plant, cigar 
manufactory, three coffee houses, and a water system. 

It is a modern, healthy city, and is considered to be the cleanest 
city on the island; has a population of about 25,000. 

Daily mail to San Juan and communication by sea with the capital, 
though irregular and uncertain as to time of arrival and dejjarture of 
boats. 



56 CONDITIONS IN PUERTO RICO. 

The rate of mortality is low, the births exceeding the deaths bj^ 50 
per cent. 

It needs a suitable wharf. This should be constructed as soon as 
possible, as upon this depends in a large measure the future prosperity 
of the city. 

It has a bank that does a regular banking business, besides a savings 
bank patronized b^^ poor people. There seems to be a good opening 
for a bank with solid capital, money commanding 1 per cent a month 
(island currency) on all loans, mortgages, notes, and money advanced 
on croj) prospects, on the best of securities. The merchants themselves 
do quite a banking business necessarily in the dealings with the 
planters and freighters in the country districts. 

Mayaguez has a good open roadstead, where the largest ships can 
with safety anchor free from danger during the prevalent north winds. 
Everything has to be loaded and unloaded by lighters, thus adding to 
the exiDenses, which could be obviated bj' the construction of a steel 
wharf at a small expense. 

Mayaguez has a population of nearly 25,000 and the following 
manufactures: Three machines for shelling, cleaning and polishing 
coffee, 2 foundries, 3 distilleries for distilling rum, 4 liquor manufac- 
tories of all kinds of liquor, 2 brickyards, 2 carri£i,ge manufactories, 
and 1 planing and turning mill. 

Agricultural interests as follows: One central sugar manufactory, 
16 large sugar manufactories, 22 large coffee farms, 145 small coffee 
farms, and 371 small farms for the small fruits. 

Its bonded indebtedness not known, but supposed to be small. 
Rate of taxation not known; not yet clearlj" defined, and it will not 
be so for some time (this was written in Maj^ or June, 1899) — not until 
regulated by future orders. 

All kinds of business represented — coffee, sugar, rum, and tobacco, 
mercantile business houses, wholesale and retail; dry goods, groceries, 
shops of all kinds, drug stores, small restaurants, liquor sellers, law- 
yers, attorneys, doctors, surgeons, sailors, hat and shirt makers, dress- 
makers, shoemakers, civil engineers, wine shops, livery stables, watch- 
makers, jewelry establishments, pawnshops, bakeries, tin shops, pho- 
tographers, butchers, barbershops, billiard rooms, casinos, and chicken 
fighters. 

Hormigueros. — Population about 500. Agricultural interests are as 
follows: Nine large sugar manufactories, 9 small coffee farms, and 184 
small farms for raising small fruits of the island. 

Bonded indebtedness, none. Rate of taxation not known ; it belongs 
to Mayaguez for taxation purposes. Merchants, grocery men, butch- 
ers, and bakers are here represented. 

Anasco. — Population about 3,000. Agricultural interests as follows : 
Sixteen large sugar manufactories, 7 large coffee farms, 103 small 
coffee farms, 500 small fruit farms, small fruit of the island; mer- 
chants, grocerymen, and all kinds of business represented; lawj^ers, 
doctors, and freighters. Bonded indebtedness not known. Rate of 
taxation not known. 

San German. — Population, 8,000. Agricultural interests are as fol- 
lows: Eight large sugar manufactories and 30 coffee farms. Bonded 
indebtedness not known. Rate of taxation not known. 

Sahana Grrande. — Population about 5,000, composed of white, black, 
and those of mixed blood. Agricultural interests are as follows : Five 
large sugar manufactories ; 6 large coffee farms ; 25 small coffee farms ; 
464 small farms devoted to fruit raising. Bonded indebtedness not 
known. Rate of taxation not known. 



CONDITIONS IN PUERTO RICO. 57 

Maricao. — Population 7,000, eoiiiposed of all classes known on this 
island. Agricultural interests as follows: Ninety-five large coffee 
farms and 153 small coffee farms. Bonded indebtedness not known. 

Las Mai-ias. — PoiDulation, 700. A fine coffee region, having coffee 
interests as follows : Fortj^-four large coffee farms and 397 small coffee 
farms. Bonded indebtedness not known. Rate of taxation not 
known. 

Lajas. — Population of about 500. Agricultural interests as follows : 
Nine large sugar manufactories; 9 small coffee farms; 624 small fruit 
farms devoted to the cultivation of the small fruits of the island. 
Bonded indebtedness of this town not known. Rate and system of 
taxation not known. 

Caho Rqjo. — Population about 3,000; that of jurisdiction about 
16,000. Agricultural interests are as follows: Twenty-six large sugar 
manufactories; 892 small fruit farms. It has several cigar-making 
establishments in the town, besides the usual number of ordinary 
merchants and business men of all kinds found in a small town. 
Bonded indebtedness not known. Rate of taxation not known. 

The towns enumerated above are the principal ones in this district. 
The}' are the centers of judicial jurisdiction, the inhabitants near 
each town being under the jurisdiction of that municipality. They 
all have post-offices, and nearly all have telegraph lines connecting 
with the headquarters of the district at Mayaguez and the capital. 

The rate of mortality in each district is not known, but it is far less 
than the birth rate. The population is increasing fast ; in a few years 
this island will be overcrowded. 

The alcalde of Mayaguez, in a supplementary report submitted by 
Major Thomas, saj^s : 

Mayaguez is a city with an important jurisdiction. It extends north 
to Anasco, northeast to Las Marias and Maricao, east to San German, 
and southeast to Cabo Rojo. Its climate is mild and its sanitary con- 
ditions good. Its sanitary condition will improve Avhen some of the 
swamps adjacent to the town have been drained. 

The rainy season generally lasts nine months, the rainfall amount- 
ing in some j^ears to from 2.10 meters to 2.20 meters (equal to 82.68 
to 86.62 inches) and in other years from 1.50 to 1.70 meters (equal to 
59.05 to 66.93 inches). 

Within the jurisdiction of Mayaguez there are no mines, although 
some carbonates of iron are supposed to exist. 

It possesses handsome, though not extensive, forests, such as man- 
goes, alj^arrobos, jaguas, jacanas, guamcis, aguacates, jobos, iicares 
capaes, aceitillds, and many others, which are suitable for building 
purposes and for fuel. 

The soil is productive. Its coast lands are composed of argil, sand, 
lime, and surface soil, this last component being generally abundant 
in the land, owing to its greater or less distance from the sea. 

Coffee is produced in abundance and is considered to be one of 
the best varieties in the world. 

All of its lands are suitable for planting sugarcane, there also being 
some plains (vegas) where "middling" tobacco is groTvii. 

Some of the smaller fruits are also grown, such as sweet oranges, 
cocoanuts, pineapples, etc., that with cheap and convenient means of 
trans]3ortation would form imj)ortant items for export. 

As to the true condition of i^roperties, coffee, and small fruits, it 
may be stated positively that they are at a comparative standstill. 
This is due to several causes occurring previous to the war, which it 



58 CONDITIONS 1^ PUERTO RICO. 

is unnecessary to enumerate here, causing a feeling of uncertainty in 
business circles. 

The almost complete stagnation in trade, embarrassing mercantile 
firms, made it nearly impossible for landowners to plant or to obtain 
credit for the last two or three years. 

The principal crops are sugar and coffee, although sugar is compar- 
atively low to what it was formerly. 

The establishment of an agricultural bank would be a convenience, 
and a ready market for fruits would assist materially. Spain or Cuba 
does not consume coffee, as formei'ly. 

As to inland transportation, it is comparativelj' poor in the whole 
jurisdiction. Roads available for the conversance of fruits become 
almost impassable in the rainy season, resulting in increased costs, 
consequently increasing the value of the products of the soil, prevent 
ing healthy competition with other countries. 

It is also an obstacle against small fruits reaching the city in suffi- 
cient quantities to meet the demand. 

The city of Mayaguez contains 37,983 inhabitants, classified as fol- 
lows: 25,108 white, 9,275 mulattoes, and 3,300 negroes. 

There are the following public schools : One for girls, 25 elementary 
schools; also a night school for adults. Besides, the city has a col- 
lege of secondary instruction, called the Lyceum of Mayaguez, and 
another, of primary and secondary instrnction, recently established 
under the name of "Municipal Institute," and several other private 
schools for young children. 

There is a post-ofiice situated at the corner of Pearl and La Rosa 
streets. 

An electric plant furnishes the citj'' lights hy contract with the 
council board. It also provides light for private dwellings, an elec- 
tric light generally acceptable. 

A telephone line is established in the town. 

There is a telegraph office for the convenience of the public; office 
is near the pla^^a. 

The city is supplied with water through an aqueduct, with a reser- 
voir of sufficient capacitj^ for filling j)ublic and domestic wants to the 
entire satisfaction of all. 

A military hospital, built of brick, of sufficient size, lies north of 
the city and near the asylum for the poor. Its hygienic condition 
seems to be satisfactory. 

Matches, tobacco, cigarettes, chocolate, sweets, natural and pre- 
served, and others are manufactured here on small scale. 

The principal trade is based upon the imports of American and 
Spanish provisions, dry goods, etc. ; of the European markets and some 
of the American. 

There are several enterprises within this jurisdiction which might 
be mentioned. The most promising one is the foundation of an agri- 
cultural bank, to suj)ply monej^ on long time; also the establishment 
of mercantile firms with sufficient capital to import the necessary pro- 
visions and merchandise for the city's consumption. 

The jurisdiction of Mayaguez is imijortant; its healthy conditions, 
the evident progressiveness of its population, and the sources of wealth 
found in its fertile soil make the city an attractive one for business or 
residence purposes. 

When an agricultural bank with strong capital is established, com- 
mencing on reasonable terms, with good security, agriculture will 



CONDITIONS IN PUERTO RICO. 59 

resume its fo]'mer activity. It is now almost at a standstill. Com- 
merce will recover its old-time vigor, industries will spring up, giving 
abundant opportunities for work among the poor class. 

(Signed by the alcalde and submitted by Major Thomas as a supple- 
ment to his report. ) 

Town of Cabo Bojo. — Information furnished by the alcalde. The 
last census gives it as about 3,000 inhabitants. Here are 9 planta- 
tions with steam engines of from 12 to 16 horsepower, and 14 worked 
by oxen. 

Cane is cultivated, approximately producing at present nearlj^ 26,000 
quintals (of 100 pounds) of sugar annually. This output could be 
increased if money could be obtained on reasonable terms. 

Nine steam mills and 5 others. There are 14 alembics (distilling 
apparatus) for the distillation of rum, which yield from 25 to 125 gal- 
lons per day. The annual output is 123,200 liters, and that is when 
molasses does not bring a reasonable price in the market. The same 
planters prefer to sell molasses for exportation, making use only of the 
cachaza (the thick foam and spoils left after squeezing the cane through 
the mill rolls). 

Besides, there are 863 farms, amongst the number breeding cattle 
of all kinds. 

The cultivation of minor fruits is unknown. 

The planting of cotfee is a specialty, although in some of those it 
grows in small portions, so much so that the yearly yield may be esti- 
mated at from 300 to 400 quintals. 

The number of acres of land embraced in the 23 cane plantations 
and 863 farms already mentioned is about 36,258 acres, divided as fol- 
lows: Plain land, about 12,203 acres; hilly land, 11,084 acres; moun- 
tain and forest, 12,971 acres. Total, 36,258 acres. 

Public instruction: This locality has 11 primary, 2 elementary, 8 
county (country?), and 1 private schools. 

Industries: In this municipality the following manufactories are 
found: Cigars, cigarettes, chipped tobacco, hats, bricks, walking 
sticks, lime, alembics, and others, it being impossible to state exactly 
the quantity annually manufactured. It can be stated, however, that 
the most important, such as sticks, brick, and lime, not only supply 
the local market, but also Mayaguez, Ponce, and other towns, and 
some even for export. 

There is a savings bank that loans money at the rate of 9 per cent 
a year, with a capital of $8,000. 

Principal crops and prices: Sugar, $3 per quintal; chewing tobacco, 
$20 ]3er quintal; smoking tobacco, $15 per quintal; corn, 11.50 per 
quintal. 

There is not wood enough in this jurisdiction for building purposes, 
but for cabinet work it can be found in sufficient quantity — such as 
capa, ucar, aceitillo, and others. 

Mines : None of any kind has so far been discovered, although it is 
assumed that they do exist ; also coal and sulphur. 

The salt pits are very productive when windmills can be used for 
raising the water. 

Cabo Rojo is one of the healthiest towns in the island. 

The beach of Jagua or Boqueron affords an excellent residence for 
families seeking sea bathing, having pure air as well as a delightful 
temperature. 



60 CONDITIONS IN PUERTO RICO. 



SUBDISTRICT OF SAN GERMAN. 

Lieutenant Hornbrook reports: Tlie jndiciar jurisdiction of San 
German lias 1 city, San German, with population 5,321; 3 towns, 
Sabana Grande, with population 2,100; Lajas, 350; Cabo Rojo, 3,000. 

DISTRICT OF PONCE. 

Lieutenant Eames reports : The principal city of the district and 
the one from which it derives its name is Ponce, situated about If 
miles from the coast, where, at Plaj'a de Ponce, its port, is a good 
harbor, with wharves, sheds, etc. The other towns, in the' order of 
their size, are: Yauco, population 8,000 b}' census of 1898; Coamo, 
population 6,000; Juana Diaz, population 4,000; Aibonito, population 
3,000; Adjuntas, population 3,000; Guayanilla, population 3,000; 
Guanica, population 500; Penueles, population 800; besides many 
other smaller towns. 

Ponce is the largest city in the district and probably the largest in 
the island — certainly in area, and probablj^ in population. 

It is situated If miles from the coast and has a good harbor at its 
port, Playa de Ponce, which is included in the jurisdiction of Ponce, 
a civil division embracing, besides the Playa and Ponce, Juana Diaz 
and some 50 square miles of territory, with a jjopulation of about 
49,000, of whom about 30,000 are in the city proper and the remainder 
about the outskirts of the cities and in small, scattered hamlets. 

A submarine cable ends at Ponce. It has the largest customs 
receipts of anj^ city in the island and is the. chief business city of the 
island. 

It is the only city with waterworks and water piped throughout the 
city. It has electric lights and the onlj Protestant church building 
in Puerto Rico. 

A franchise is all but let for an electric road from the port to the 
city, and the company proposes to extend the line to all of the neigh- 
boring cities. 

The largest, if not the onl}^, deposit of phosphates on the island is 
at its very door, on Muerto Island, at the harbor entrance. 

Hundreds of carriages, in lieu of street cars, carry passengers from 
one part of the city to another for about 8 cents each passenger per 
trip, or 60 cents an hour, and besides these a line of 'busses runs from 
Ponce to the port for about 10 cents (these prices being in United 
States currency). 

Ponce has a large telephone exchange, and is connected with all 
other towns hy telegraph, besides the railroad to Yauco and the car- 
riage and motorcycle line to San Juan and intermediate points. 

The streets, of macadam, are usually wide, well lighted, and clean. 

The houses are of stuccoed brick or stone, and there are some pretty 
residences and shops. There is a club or casino, which, originally 
Spanish, now has many Americans among its members. The club 
house adjoins a fine, large theater, and with the various entertain- 
ments at this latter and the weekly dances at the club Ponce possesses 
no poor means of entertainment. 

In the way of public imjDrovements, Ponce has a new and modero 
hospital, a poorhouse, orphans' home, insane asylum, a home for old 
women, a pesthouse, and three cemeteries. 

On the south side of the plaza, which is very large and beautiful, is 
an oriental kiosk, which is decorated with palms and fitted with a 



CONDITIONS IN PUERTO RICO. 61 

kitchen and bar, and here one can eat American dishes, served in 
American style, or drink American drinks. An orchestra of six or 
eight pieces plays in the evening. 

On two nights a week are band concerts at the north end of the 
plaza. 

The stores are always full of American and European novelties and 
staples, and are excellent in their way, but are deficient in tools and 
agricultural implements. 

The fire department of Ponce consists of a volunteer fire company,, 
composed of 3 platoons and 1 section located in the city and a detached 
platoon at the port. 

Each platoon is composed of 2 sections of 60 men each. 

The present chief of the company is Don Julio E. Steinacher; the 
assistant chief is Don Juan Seix. The other officers are 2 surgeons, a 
treasurer, 4 chiefs of platoon, one of which commands the hook-and- 
ladder section, and 6 chiefs of section located at Ponce, and 1 chief of 
section platoon and 2 chiefs of section at the port. 

The whole company thus consists of: 

Officers 18 

Seven sections of 60 men each 420 

Pioneers 18 

Band 30 

Trumpeters 18 

Sanitary police 14 

Port sections (2) 120 

Total, 18 officers and 620 men. 

The ranks are not completely filled, however, and there are at present 
only 480 men available. 

Each platoon has a hand engine and a hose cart; the salvage sec- 
tion, a hook-and. ladder cart. As above organized the company can 
handle three simultaneous fires. The hook-and-ladder apparatus is 
old and worn, but the hand engines are in working order. There 
should be an extra engine for the port. 

There are in all 1,500 feet of hose. 

The company is entirely composed of volunteers, and no one receives 
a cent of pay. Money prizes are given to those firemen who first 
arrive at the scene of a fire and save property. 

A guard of twelve men is posted nightly at the engine house. 

Each fireman is entitled to free medicine and medical attendance 
for himself and family. 

In case of being disabled at a fire, he receives a dailj^ allowance 
until again able to work. 

Three money prizes are given annually by the city to those firemen 
who have particularly distinguished themselves by good conduct. 

To defray the expenses of the company an annual appropriation is 
made from the township funds, amounting in general to from 3,000 
to 4,000 pesos. During the last year, however, 7,000 pesos were allotted. 

The engine house (parque de bombas) is a neat wooden building 
situated in the main plaza, just back of the church. It belongs to 
the city. 

The uniform of the men consists of a red flannel shirt, blue cotton- 
drill trousers with red stripe, a broad and strong canvas belt, and a 
red cap. 

The officers have for full dress a dark-blue, single-breasted tunic, 
dark-blue trousers with red stripe, and a white metal helmet similar 
to those used by the firemen in Paris. They also have a dark-blue 



62 CONDITIONS IN PUERTO RICO. 

blouse and red cap for ordinary wear, with a red flannel sliirt for use 
at fires and fire drill. 

The uniforms of the men, equipment, etc., are paid for from the 
annual appropriation, but the olficers bear all the expenses of their 
own outfit. The officers belong to the best families of Ponce, and the 
organization is very popular. A good band is maintained, which gives 
concerts twice a week in the i)rlncipal plaza. A drill or parade is 
given every Sunday when the weather permits, and the whole popula- 
tion turns out to witneSs it. 

The Ponce fire company has been in existence some sixteen years, 
and it has an excellent record for turning out promptly and quickly 
controlling every fire which has occurred in and about Ponce. This 
company did excellent service at the dangerous fire which broke out 
on the night of January 25, 1899, at the stables and magazine of Light 
Battery M, Seventh Artillery. 

The introduction of a steam fire engine, with horses, is not favorably 
looked upon on account of the attendant expenses, and at i)resent it 
is hardly necessarj' . Fire plugs are plentiful all through the city, and 
the pressure is enough to throw a stream over most of the structures, 
which are generally low. Larger and more powerful hand engines, a 
good hook-and-ladder outfit, and more hose would make the company 
more efficient even than it is, and the jjresent engines would then be 
available for use at the port. 

The town of Yauco also has an organized fire company, and Juana 
Diaz has established one in the past year, modeled upon that of Ponce. 

The police force of Ponce is composed as follows : One inspector, 2 
subinspectors, 2 corporals, 50 roundsmen, 6 mounted men; total 61. 

One inspector and 7 men are detached for service at the port, 1 of 
the men acting as corporal, 4 men being assigned to day duty, and 2 
at night work. 

The hours of duty for the whole force are from 7.30 p. m. to 5 a. m. 
and from 5 a. m. to 7.30 p. m. 

At Ponce for day service 6 men are assigned to the duty of patrolling 
the 6 city wards and 12 more to special work. During the night 18 
are assigned to the wards and 5 to special duty. 

The corporals are assisted in their work by men specially detailed, 
-SO that there are 3 available for night and 3 for day duty. They 
make their rounds once every two hours, receiving reports from the 
policemen of any unusual occurrence and transmitting the same 
through the subinspector on duty to the inspector, who, if necessary, 
refers them to higher authority for action. 

The mounted police are intended for service in the 22 country bar- 
rios, or wards, and the duty of patrolling these is divided between 
them. 

For ordinary wear the men are uniformed in brown hoUands with 
blue cloth cap or light helmet. For cool weather and on special occa- 
sions a dark-blue cloth suit is worn. The city police and those of the 
port are armed day and night with revolver. The corporals when 
patrolling at night carry a Colt carbine, and so do the policemen at 
the port. 

The mounted or rural police carry carbines and furnish their own 
mounts. 

The police seem to be quite capable of keeping order under normal 
conditions and have recently gained much prestige from their suc- 
cessful capture of White Eagle and several of his gang. 

Yauco. — Yauco is the second city in size in the district, with a pop- 



CONDITIONS IN PUERTO RICO. 63 

ulation of 8,000 in the city proper. It is 22 miles by rail from Ponce 
and has a good road to its port, Gnanica, about 4 to 6 miles away. 

It has has two plazas, upon one of which is its market and upon the 
other the Roman Catholic cathedral, and this latter is beautified with 
IDalms and flowers, with shade trees and benches along its v^^ell-kept 
walks. 

Yauco has two good hotels, besides a club and theater and many 
good stores. 

Being the end of the good roads to Ponce, both rail and wagon, it 
naturally becomes a starting point for pack trains, and long lines of 
patient iDeasts standing about its streets are, perhaps, the most familiar 
sight. 

Yauco is in the heart of a sugar-raising plain, and much of the sugar 
interests of the district center about this clean little city. 

Coamo. — Coamo, the third citj^ in the district, has some 6,000 inhab- 
itants, and, being some 1,800 or 2,000 feet above the sea level, is cool 
and pleasant. It is on the line of travel from Ponce to San Juan, and 
is usually a stopping place for travelers making the trip. 

Coamo boasts an excellent, if small, club, a theater, and hotel. It 
has but one plaza, which contains the market as well as the ever- 
present cathedral. 

Being in the colfee and tobacco districts, Coamo devotes most of 
her attention to these staples. 

Coamo is also tlie terminus of the pack trails leading to Barros and 
Barranquitas, small villages in the roughest and wildest part of the 
island and in the midst of the best coffee lands of Puerto Rico. 

Near Coamo are also the famous Coamo baths, which attract many 
Europeans to their healing powers and the beautiful scenery of this 
part of the district. 

These baths are the site of the United States vaccine station, where, 
under the energetic direction of Maj. Azel Ames, U. S. V., is pro- 
duced virus of excellent qualit5^ Points taken at this farm, the 
output being some 30,000 points a day, give unfailing results and are 
used in the compulsory vaccination of the inhabitants of the whole 
island, as well as in the army stationed in Puerto Rico. A good 
hotel adds much to the attractiveness of the place. 

Juana Diaz, about 8 miles from Ponce and 12 miles from Coamo, 
has 4,000 inhabitants and is also on the military road, being the last 
point of changing horses in the relay ride from Ponce to San Juan. 

Trails to Barros and Utuado bring coffee and tobacco from these 
points by means of the ubiquitous j)ack horse. 

Near Juana Diaz is a little hamlet, scarce large enough to have a 
name, which installed the first electric-light system in the district, 
some four or five years ago. Juana Diaz has a hotel, a few good 
stores, a cathedral, and a plaza. The nights are cool, and the rain- 
fall is about the average of that in the district. It offers but little in 
the way of investment. 

Aibonito is the highest city on the island, and has a population of 
about 3,000. It is situated at the base of Mount Somanta, and is a 
very beautiful little town with an excellent cathedral and plaza. 
Being on the edge of the tobacco district which centers about Cayey, 
13 miles a,wiij, it naturallj" is classed as a tobacco center. 

At the base of Mount Guilarto, and in the heart of what is perhaps 
the most beautiful of the mountain scenerj^, nestles the city of 
Adjuntas. It is literally hung upon the verdant mountain side, with 
but a trail leading into the town from Ponce or out toward Utuado 



64 CONDITIONS IN PUERTO RICO. 

and Arecibo. Much work has been done and is still being done on 
a wagon road from Ponce to Ad juntas, and when completed this well- 
situated little city will quickly spring into prominence as a coffee 
center. For years sturdy little ponies, laden with the pungent berry, 
have trudged through its narrow streets bound for Ponce, Yauco, or 
Arecibo, but the poor roads about it have always kept it hidden from 
the world. 

It has a pretty and well-kept plaza, with the usual cathedral, and 
is a well-ordered and cleanly little citj". 

Being situated among the roughest of hills, the natives have always 
been more or less turbulent, making raids upon pack trains, and, with 
their booty, retreating to their mountain fastnesses. The work of the 
American troops is very apparent in dealing with these banditti, as 
breaches of order have become much less prevalent than formerly, 
and for some little time back the jurisdiction of Adjuntashas been as 
quiet and well ordered as its neighboring city of Yauco. 

On the line of railroad from Ponce to Yauco are the towns of Guay- 
anilia, with 1,000 inliabitants, and Peiiuelas, with about half as many. 
They are both sugar centers, and besides this offer but little to invest- 
ors or travelers. Each has a very poor hotel, although that of Guay- 
anilla is the better of the two. The Tallaboa River supplies, by means 
of an aqueduct, the city of Peiiuelas with water,' which is hauled, as 
in Guaj^anilla, through the town by peddlers. 

Guanica, with 500 inhabitants, is chiefly prominent as the port of 
Yauco and as the site of a small United States fortification, Fort 
Capron, which is on a hill near the village and overlooking the best 
harbor on the south coast of the island. 

DISTRICT OF SAN JUAN, 

Lieutenant Blunt, under date of May 12, 1899, says: 

There is but one city in the district, San Juan, the capital and 
princij)al city of Puerto Rico. 

Historically interesting, it is to-day a commercial town of great 
importance and has great prospects. It is the natural outlet of a 
large, fertile section, and, having the only real harbor on the north 
coast, should be the commercial metropolis. At present it is over- 
crowded, but when higher dwellings are constructed the present area 
will hold many more people. On December 31, 1897, its population 
was 83,111, of which but 153 were foreigners. Since then it has 
grown slightly; the population to-day is about 33,700. 

All the streets of the city are paved, some with cobbles. 

There are several plazas or open squares and four large Roman 
Catholic churches. 

The public buildings belong partly to the insular government and 
partly to the municipal. At present several buildings are used by 
both temporarily. 

The police force of the city consists of 62 officers and men; it does 
not seem sufficient for the work. The city limits include Santurce, a 
suburb on the main island, not on San Juan island; this is entirely a 
residence section and will increase rapidly. 

There are no street railways ; two omnibus lines run to the princi- 
pal places. The suburban railway before alluded to should be ex- 
tended and the motive power altered. 

There are gas works and electric-light works, both of them too small 
for the present necessities. These are private corporations. The 



CONDITIONS IN PUERTO RICO. 65 

telephone system is eomi3lete, as is also the cable system to other 
countries. 

The interior telegraph system is carried on at present under the 
United States Signal Service, and is being extended and improved 
continuously. 

The principal streets are sewered, but the system does not gener- 
ally extend into the houses. 

It is the same with the water supply, which is brought from the 
Rio Piedras, about 10 miles, in an 18-inch main, and is run through 
the iDrincipal streets, with public hydrants at many j)oints. The 
works cost in 1888 about $50,000 to put in, and was estimated to sup- 
ply the needs of 70,000 Puerto Ricau population. But as the sanitazy 
improvements considered necessary are introduced, the per capita of 
water used will be increased tremendously, and the supply and main 
will both be found too small. The cistern supply will help a great 
deal, but can not be relied upon. Before long the water system must 
be improved. The Loiza River is the next available supply. 

The health of the city is good, though on account of overcrowding 
the death rate is above the average. A few lepers have been found 
and isolated. There has been some smallpox of a mild form with no 
deaths. Everybody has recently been vaccinated. 

Many of the people are very x^oor and improperly nourished, but 
the " Woman's Aid Society" has already established a branch here 
and is doing good work. 

The enterprises of the city are largely commercial. There are no 
manufactures which more than supply domestic needs, except cigars, 
coifee, sugar, and its by-products, molasses and rum. 

The imports show that all machinery, materials for clothing, lum- 
ber, and groceries come from foreign places. Just at present imports 
from the United States are increasing rapidlj^ and European goods 
losing their hold. 

There are five large banks and numerous "money exchanges." 

There are no investment companies actually doing business ; there 
are numerous prospectors, and companies are now being formed. 

(See also notes under "Churches," "Schools," etc.) 

In general the business interests are increasing and the city will 
undoubtedly grow rapidly. IsTumerous minor improvements are being 
made; the city is active; the business men wide-awake. 

None of the toAvns of the district are of special importance. 

Rio Piedras, about 8 miles from San Juan, is probably the most 
promising. It has a population of about 11,000 in the township and 
nearly 2,000 in the pueblo itself. Sugar is the staple; several large 
mills are now in oj^eration and more are expected. The township lies on 
both sides of the main military road to Ponce, and the town has railroad 
■communication with San Juan. The waterworks for San Juan are 
located here, and it is hoped to put pipes in the streets of Rio Piedras 
soon. There are three schools, the usual plaza, and church. Many 
vegetables for use in San Juan are raised nearby, and the higher part 
of the township produces excellent tobacco. 

Carolina, with a population of 10,200, is an important sugar and 
cattle center. There is a limited quantity of excellent clay in this 
vicinity, with crude means of brickmaking. The absence of any 
forests in these sections is very noticeable. Large trees are scattered 
around. There is no regular forest growth. 

Rio Grande is separated from the natural center, San Juan, by the 
river Loiza, with no bridge, and the sugar from this district is shipped 
1.3100 o 



66 CONDITIONS' IN PUERTO RICO. 

from the open port of Loiza, on the Atlantic Ocean. The townships 
of Rio Grande and Loiza contain al3ont 6,000 people together; the 
pueblos each have churches and schools. The eastern part of Rio 
Grande is very hilly and the highest point on the island about 3,100 
feet. Sierra de Laquillo is just on the edge of the district. 

Bayamon, another suburban town, has a pueblo population of 2,500, 
with about 5,000 more in the country around. It is connected with 
San Juan by rail to Catano and boat thence to the city. The town- 
shii^ is j)artl57' a sugar and partly a coffee district, and the lack of 
roads has kept it all back. This is being remedied now and the town 
will grow nicely. Water can be cheaply introduced here, but no 
definite plans have been formed. 

Naranjita and Sabana del Palma are higher townships, cut off fronli 
any wagon transportation. Coffee and tobacco are somewhat grown. 
The land is extremelj^ fertile. The towns are small and unimportant. 
The total population is about 11,000. The country is very rough and 
tlie trails are narrow and not improved in anyway. The River Plata 
is generally f ordable, but has a great amount of water for supplj^ and 
power. 

Corosal and Toa Alta form another natural but undeveloped coffee 
section; no roads or improvements of any kind. At Corosal cojjper 
has been found in small quantities; improved mining facilities might 
develop paying quantities, particularly as copper is daily becoming 
more valualjle in electrical matters. The population of these sections 
is about 7,600, and these people seemed rougher than those else- 
where. 

Toa Baja, its port Dorado, and the village of Vega Alta form 
another group of sugar and coffee i3lantations. The railroad and mili- 
tHYj road lead through this section to San Juan, while Dorado is one 
of the best open ports on the island. This section is flourishing and 
lias fair communications, water power, and veiy fertile soil. The total 
poijulation is estimated at 11,000, and each town has several schools 
and one church., 

None of the towns above named have any paved streets, gas or 
electric lights, waterworks, or sewers. The buildings are nearly all 
one-storied, and the general appearance of the towns is one of decay. 
There are no decent stopping places, no domestic conveniences. Thej^ 
seem from fifty to one hundred years behind the times. 

The basis of this report is a personal inspection of the country, with 
oral or written statements from persons supposed to know about the 
many and varied subjects. The alcaldes of San Juan and the towns 
have given any information asked for. 



POST-OFFICES. 

DISTRICT OF ARECIBO. 

Captain Macomb says: United States post-otfices at Arecibo, Barce- 
loneta, Hatillo, Camuy, Quebradillas, Isabela. 

DISTRICT OF AGUADILLA. 

Captain Mansfield says, under date of May 30, 1899: All the towns 
named have post-of&ces, but no buildings for the purpose. Rooms 
are rented forjDostal purposes. (Towns named are as follows: Agua- 
dilla, San Sebastian, Moca, Aguada, Rincon, Quebradilla, Isabela. ) 



CONDITIONS IN PUERTO RICO. 67 

DISTRICT OF CAYEY. 

Captain Foster makes no report. 

DISTRICT OF HUMACAO. 

. Captain Dentler, under date of May 16, 1899, says: Post-offices are 
in all the towns and cities. The service is fair, although delays occa- 
sionally occur on account of swollen streams. 

DISTRICT OP MAYAGUEZ. 

Major Thomas makes a report, not dated, but evidentlj^ written in 
May or June of 1899, in which he says: The post-office system is grad- 
ually improving, though I am creditably informed that in some places 
in the interior it is in bad condition. All of the officials, whoever 
they may be, are careless and indifferent. In the district nearly all 
of the postmasters are Americans, which should insure a regular 
transmission and correct delivery of the mails. 

Mayaguez, San German, Cabo Rojo, Lajas, Hormigueros, Anasco, 
Sabana Grande, Maricao, and Las Marias all have iDOst-offices. 

Maysignez has daily mail to San Juan and communication hj sea 
with the capital, though irregular and uncertain as to time of arrival 
and departure of bo^ts. 

SUBDISTRICT OF SAN GERMAN. 

Lieutenant Hornbrook reports: Each of these towns (San German, 
Cabo Rojo, Lajas, and Sabana Grande) has one post-office; a money- 
order office is, however, onlj^ in San German. 

DISTRICT OF PONCE. 

Lieutenant Eames reports : Every city in the district has a United 
States post-office, many of which are money-order offices, and a daily 
mail each way from Ponce gives an excellent service. Ships stopping 
at San Juan put off first-class mail immediately, the district's mail being 
carried to Ponce for distribution at once, and the second, third, and 
fourth classes being usually sent the next day unless the ship is going 
to Ponce, in whichcase she brings it down herself. Mail from New 
York is usually from eight to twelve daj^^s old when it reaches Ponce, 
although exceptional trips have brought New York papers through in 
six days. 



STREET RAILWAYS. 

DISTRICT OF ARECIBO. 

Captain Macomb reports : There are no street railways or electric 
cars in the section treated of. 

DISTRICT OF AGUADILLA. 

Captain Mansfield, under date of May 30, 1899, reports: There are 
no street railways in the district. 



CONDITIONS IN PUERTO RICO. 
DISTRICT OF CAYEY. 



Captain Foster, under date of June 28, 1899, says: There are no 
street railways. 



DISTRICT OF HUMACAO. 



Captain Dentler, under date of May 16, 1899, says: Street railways 
are not yet to be found in any of the cities or towns. 



DISTRICT OF MAY'AGUEZ. 



Major Tliomas states in an undated report : Maj^aguez possesses the 
only street-car system on the island, which raises her as unique in 
this respect. This line answers the pur]30se very well, is economically 
mana2:ed, and renders fairly good service. 



SUBDISTRICT OF SAN GERMAN. 

Lieutenant Hornbroolc reports: Street railwaj^s * * * are en- 
tirely absent. 

DISTRICT OF PONCE. 

Lieutenant Eames reports (in May, 1899) : A franchise is all but let 
for an electric road from the port to the city (of Ponce), and the com- 
pany proposes to extend the line to all of the neighboring cities. 
Hundreds of carriages, in lieu of street cars, carry passengers from one 
part of the city to another for about 8 cents per trip, or 60 cents an 
hour, and besides there is a line of 'busses run from Ponce to the port 
for about 10 cents (these prices being in United States currency). 

There are at present no street railways in the district, but within 
a short time Ponce will have in o]3eration a modern electric road. At 
present carriages are made to take the iDlace of street cars and are in 
some waj^s preferable. 

DISTRICT OF SAN JUAN. 

Lieutenant Blunt says : There are no street railways (in the city of 
San Juan); two omnibus lines run to the principal places. The 
suburban railways before alluded to (see "Railroads, etc.") should 
be extended and the motive power altered. 



ELECTRIC LIGHTS. 

DISTRICT OF AGUADILLA. 

Captain Mansfield reports, under date of May 30, 1899 : There are 
no electric lights in the district. 

DISTRICT OF CAYEY. 

Captain Foster, under date of June 28, 1899, says: There are no 
electric lights. 



CONDITIONS IN PUERTO RICO. 69 

DISTRICT OF HUMACAO, 

Under date of May 16, 1899, Captain Dentler saj^s: Electric lights 
are not j^et to be found in any of the cities or towns. Kerosene oil 
is the onh^ agency for supplying liglit to the cities in this district. 

DISTRICT OF MAYAGUEZ. 

Major Thomas, in his report (probablj' written in May or June, 
1899), says: Maj^aguez also has an electrie-light plant. 

The alcalde of Mayaguez, in a supplement to Major Thomas's 
report, says: An electric plant furnishes the city lights bj^ contract 
with the council board. It also provides light for private dwellings — 
an electric light generally acceptable. 

SUBDISTRICT OF SAN GERMAN. 

Lieutenant Hornbrook reports: Electric lighting * * * jg 
entirel}^ absent. 

DISTRICT OF PONCE. 

Lieutenant Eames says: Ponce has electric lights. 

Near Juana Diaz is a little hamlet, scarce large enough to have a 
name, which installed the first electric-light system in the district, 
some four or five years ago. 

Ponce is well lighted by arc lights, and the houses bj' incandescent 
lights, which are very generally used, although most of the houses 
are piped and fitted for gas, which is but little used. The current is 
of a verj^ high voltage — 250 — and there is never anj^ break or failure 
of the current. 

DISTRICT OF SAN JUAN. 

Lieutenant Blunt reports (May 12, 1899) : (In the city of San Juan) 
There are gas works and electric-light works, both of them too small 
for the present necessities. These are private corporations. None 
of the other towns named in this district have electric lights. 



TELEPHONE AND TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION. 

DISTRICT OF ARECIBO. 

Captain Macomb reports : 

1. The wire along the railroad from San Juan to terminus of road 
at Camuy, for railroad business only. 

2. Military line from San Juan throngh Bayamon, Manati, Barce- 
■loneta, Arecibo, Camuy, Quebradillas, Isabela, Aguadilla, and Maya- 
guez, with stations at present at Bayamon, Manati, Arecibo, Agua- 
dilla, and Maj^aguez. 

. 3. Military line from Arecibo through ITtuado, Adjuntas, to Ponce; 
stations at these posts. 

4. Military line, Utuado via Lares, San Sebastian, Aguadilla, with 
stations at Lares, Utuado, and Aguadilla. 



70 CONDITIONS IN PUERTO RICO. 

These militaiy lines are open to all public and private business ; 
charges, 2 cents gold per word, including address and signature, to 
all points on the island having operating stations. 

No telephone plants. 

DISTRICT OF AGUADILLA. 

Captain Mansfield, under date of May 30, 1899, says : 

All the towns named are connected by telegraph lines and have 
connections all over the island; but at Quebradillas, Isabela, San 
Sebastian, and Moca there are no operators, so the telegraph lines are 
useless. 

The telegraph line mentioned belongs to the government. 

The telegraph line that is used from Aguadilla to Aguada and 
Rincon belongs to the Puerto Rican Railroad, although the govern- 
ment line also goes through those places. 

There are one or two short telephone lines. 

DISTRICT OF CAYEY. 

Captain Foster, under date of June 28, 1899, sa}^: There is no tele- 
phone communication. 

DISTRICT OF HUMACAO. 

Captain Dentler, under date of May 16, 1899, says: 

Forty-two miles of private telephone belong to Mr. Arguesso, a 
sugar merchant of Humacao, used for his estate and business purposes. 

A sugar dealer, Mr. Roig, owns 6^ miles of private wire between 
Humacao and the port of Humacao. 

Government telephone connects the different government buildings, 
the cavalry and infantry barracks, the hosijital, the corral, the com- 
missary storehouse, etc. 

The only telegraphic communication is that of the government. 

DISTRICT OF MAYAGUEZ. 

Major Thomas, reporting in May or June, 1899, says : 

The towns nearlj' all have telegraph lines connecting with the head- 
quarters of the district at Maj^aguez and the capital. 

The alcalde of Mayaguez, speaking of that jurisdiction, saj^s, in a 
supplement to Major Thomas's report: 

A telephone line is established in the town. 

A telegraiDh of6.ce for the convenience of the public; office is near 
the playa. 

SUBDISTRICT OF SAN GERMAN. 

Lieutenant Hornbrook reports : 

* * * and telephone communications are entirely absent. 
San German is the only town which has telegraphic communication; 
the line, however, touches Sabana Grande and Cabo Rojo. 

DISTRICT OF PONCE. 

Lieutenant Fames reports : 
A submarine cable ends at Ponce. 

Ponce has a large telephone exchange and is connected with all other 
towns by telegraph, besides the railroad. 



CONDITIONS IN PUERTO RICO. 71 

Ponce and Yaiico both have telephone systems, that of Ponce hav- 
ing some 200 subscribers. The instruments are modern and the line 
works well. All of the cities of the district are connected by tele- 
graph, which is at present worked by the United States Signal Corps 
in a very satisfactory manner. 

Ponce also has a submarine cable with excellent service. 

DISTRICT OF SAN JUAN. 

Lieutenant Blunt says : The telephone system (of the city of San 
Juan) is complete, as is also the cable system to other countries. The 
interior telegraph system is carried on at present under the United 
States Signal Service, and is being extended and improved continually. 



WATER SUPPLY. 

DISTRICT OF ARECIBO. 

Town of Arecibo. — Captain Macomb says: The Rio Grande receives 
from the southwest the river Tanama, which joins the main stream 
some 4 miles soutli of the town of Arecibo. This mountain stream is 
being utilized to supply the town vdth an abundance of pure water by 
an aqueduct. The reservoir, a massive stone and concrete construc- 
tion, with ventilated arched roof, has been completed at an elevation 
of some 175 feet above the sea. A strong masonry dam in the Tanama 
is also completed, and will furnish power to fill the reservoir and to 
run an electric plant to furnish light for the city. The machinery for 
the water-filling plant is in place, there remaining to be completed 
about one-half of the i3ipe line leading into the town and the placing 
of pipes and hydrants in the streets. The work as done is of the 
strongest construction. About $20,000, in gold, is needed to complete 
the system, and when this sum is made available it is believed the 
system will be completed in six months. 

The rainfall is sufficient at Arecibo and Hatillo and Camuy, but on 
the limestone plateau on which Quebradillas and Isabela are located 
the amount of water is not as great. Both these towns have suffered 
in the recent (June, 1899) dry weather. This difficulty it is hoped to 
remove, so far as the towns are concerned, by the sinking of bored 
wells. This work is at present under way. 

DISTRICT OF AGUADILLA. 

The eastern and southeastern portions of the district are well watered. 
This is not the case in the northern and northwestern sections, where 
the country is wholly dependent upon rains and on a few wells, cisterns, 
and artificial pools. As there are or have been no instruments for 
measuring the rainfall, there is no means of knowing exactly what it 
is, except that during the period from January 1, 1899, to May 31, 1899, 
8.13 inches fell at Isabela. They have had a rain gauge there since 
January 1, 1899. This period covers the dry season and is in a dry 
locality, where drought prevails to a great extent at some seasons. 
However, from my observations, I do not think it can be less than 60 
inches per annum. 

The water supply of Aguadilla is excellent, coming from what is 



72 CONDITIONS IN PUERTO RICO. 

called the Columbus Spring, wliicli, however, is not a spring, but the 
outlet of a large underground stream, having its sources somewhere 
up in the mountains east of the town. There are also manj^ cisterns 
and vfells. The water is 13 per cent liard. 

The water suppl}^ of San Sebastian is mostly from the Culebrina and 
its branches and from cisterns and wells. The same is true of Mooa. 

About Quebradillas are several springs, besides cisterns and wells. 

The water supply of Isabela is mentioned above. (See "Geographical 
and physical features.") 

Aguada is on the seashore, or near it. There are some springs, but 
the water is mostly from wells and cisterns. 

About Rincon are many springs and little streams, besides wells and 
cisterns. 

Lares, besides wells and cisterns, is su]3i)lied hj branches of the 
Guayaloca and other streams. 

All towns seem to depend mostly on cisterns, in which the water is 
comparatively fresh most of the time on account of the frequent 
rains. Next to them they use the wells. The cisterns are usuallj^ 
well built and clean, but from my observations I can not say the wells 
are clean, though well built. Furthermore, the water in the wells is 
very hard at all times. Both cisterns and wells are very numerous 
everywhere. 

DISTRICT OF CAYEY. 

Captain Foster, under date of June 28, says: There are no city 
waterworks. 

DISTRICT OF HUMACAO. 

Captain Dentler, under date of Maj^ 16, 1899, says: There is an 
abundance of water for all the cities and towns, but no public reser- 
voirs. The water is hauled ui^on ox carts in barrels from the streams 
and rivers and peddled to private families at different prices, accord- 
ing to the quantity required. 

DISTRICT OP MAYAGUEZ. 

Major Thomas makes report as follows : Mayaguez (citj^) has a water 
sytem. » 

The water supply of this district (I mean for drinking j)urposes) is 
not perfect and in a great many localities unhealthy, though more 
attention is being joaid to this supply than formerly. Filtering stones 
and filtering vessels are being introduced and used. 

The alcalde of Mayaguez says in a supplement to the report of Major 
Thomas : The city is supplied with water through an aqueduct, with a 
reservoir of sufilcient capacity for filling public and domestic wants to 
the entire satisfaction of ail. 

SUBDISTEICT OF SAN GERMAN. 

Lieutenant Hornbrook reports : Water is sui^plied from river by 
venders, from cisterns, wells, etc. 

DISTRICT OF PONCE. 

Lieutenant Fames says: Ponce alone has a water giipply piped into 
the houses. It is the onlj^ citj^ with waterworks and water ]3iped 
throughout the city. 



CONDITIONS IN PUERTO RICO. 73 

The Tallaboa River supplies, by means of an aqueduct, the city of 
Penuelas with water, which is hauled, as in Guayanilla, through the 
town by peddlers. 

Ponce is the only citj^ in the district, or indeed, upon the island, 
which has a water supply with waterworks and piping. Most of the 
other cities rely upon cisterns or aqueducts for drinking water and 
streams for washing, and most of the washing is done at the river side 
by native womeu. 

An improved and modern filter is soon to be added to Ponce's water- 
works, mone}' having already been appropriated for that purpose. 

DISTRICT OF SAN JUAN. 

Lieutenant Blunt says, under date of May 12, 1899: Rio Piedras 
supplies the city of San Juan and suburbs with what water is there 
used. The general absence of sewers and water supply are every- 
where noticeable. Water was a luxury rather than a necessity. 

The water sj'^stera does not generally extend into the houses. The 
water is brought from the Rio Piedras, about 10 miles, in an 18-inch 
main, and is run through the principal streets with public hydrants 
at many points. The works cost in 1888 about $50,000 to put in and 
were estimated to su]3ply the needs of 70,000 Puerto Rican people. 
But as the sanitary improvements considered necessary are introduced 
the per capita of water used will be increased tremendously and the 
supply and main will both be fourd too small. The cistern supplj^ 
will help a great deal, but can not be relied upon. Before long the 
water sj^stem must be improved. The Loiza River is the next avail- 
able supply. 

The waterworks for San Juan are located at Rio Piedras, and it is 
hoped to put pipes in the streets of Rio Piedras soon. 

Bayamon. — Water can be cheaply introduced here, but no definite 
plans have been formed. 

Naranjito and Sabana del Palma. — The River Plata * * * l^ias 
a great amount of water for suppl}^ and power. 

None of the towns other than San Juan have a (piped) water supply. 



BONDED AND OTHER INDEBTEDNESS. 

DISTRICT OF AGUADILLA. 

Captp.in Mansfield, under date of May 30, 1899, says: There is no 
bonded indebtedness of any of the towns. The other indebtedness of 
the towns amounts to an aggregate of 70,000 to 75,000 pesos, but there 
are some towns that have no indebtedness. 

DISTRICT OF CAYEY. 

Captain Foster makes no report. 

DISTRICT OF HUMACAO. 

Captain Dentler, under date of Maj^ 16, 1899, saj'S: There have been 
j)racticallj' no municipal improvements, for nearly all the cities are 
in considerable debt. The city of Humacao alone owes $20,000, caused 
by the bad administration of the Spanish Government. 



74 CONDITIONS IN PUERTO RICO. 

DISTRICT OF MAYAGUEZ. 

Major Thomas reports : The bonded indebtedness of the city of Maya- 
g'uez is not known, bnt is supposed to be small. Horraia-ueros, bonded 
indebtedness none; Anasco, bonded indebtedness not known; San 
German, bonded indebtedness not known; Sabana Grande, bonded 
indebtedness hot known; Maricao, bonded indebtedness not known; 
Lajas, bonded indebtedness of this town not knOwn; Cabo Rojo, 
bonded indebtedness not known. 

DISTRICT OF PONCE. 

Lieutenant Eames reports : Generally speaking, the cities are not 
bonded and have no indebtedness. Ponce, although the largest city 
on the island, not having a single cent of bonded or other indebtedness. 



SANITARY CONDITIONS. 

DISTRICT OF AGUADILLA. . 

Captain Mansfield reports: The lack of good sanitary conditions 
and the dirty condition of houses, and especially water-closets, are not 
productive of good health, and I do not doubt that anj^ epidemic would 
create great loss of life throughout the whole district. 

As to sanitar}^ conditions, any report that can now (May 30, 1899) 
be made will be too short to adequately describe the situation. -The 
streets of most towns and villages are fairly clean, but could be much 
cleaner ; not so the back yards, which are generally pest holes. Slops 
from the kitchen are thrown on the ground, subject to the action of a 
hot sun. To some extent the rains wash the j^ards, but more or less 
of the dirt soaks into the earth and becomes a permanent fixture. 

The water-closets are so constructed that it is ail but impossible to 
clean them, because there are no allejnvays in any of the towns and 
villages, and the odors rise and float through the apartments. ^ These 
closets are alwaj^s in a filthy condition and generally placed in close 
proximity to the kitchens, and sometimes 0]3ening into them. No effort 
seems to be ever made to keep such places clean. No doubt the amount 
of sickness and disease would be greatly reduced if the sanitary con- 
ditions were improved. 

DISTRICT OF CAYEY. 

Captain Foster, under date of June 28, 1899, says: The sanitary 
conditions are not of the best, but are improving. It takes time 
to correct the unclean personal habits handed down from former 
generations. 

DISTRICT OF HUMACAO. 

Captain Dentler, under date of May 16, 1899, says: The sanitary 
conditions are very bad. Houses are crowded and small, and in many 
places closets are built right next to kitchens. The post surgeon and 
the commanding officer of the post have made strenuous efforts to 
better affairs in these respects, especially in the city of Humacao. 
The mayor of this town, acting upon the suggestion of the military 
authorities, issued a general proclamation early in April, calling par- 



CONDITIONS IN PUERTO RICO. 75 

ticularly to the attention of the inhabitants the necessity of proper 
sanitation. However, there is great room for im^jrovement in this 
matter. 

DISTRICT OF MAYAGUEZ. 

Major Thomas, in a report written in May or June, 1899, but with- 
out date, snys : Maj^aguez is a modern, healthy city, and is considered 
to be the cleanest city on the island. 

The sanitarj^ conditions of the district and the cities and towns 
embraced therein are all good and constantly being improved. 

The alcalde of Mayaguez, speaking of the city, says : Its sanitary 
conditions are good. Its sanitary condition will improve when some 
of the swamps adjacent to the town have been drained. 

The alcalde of Cabo Rojo, speaking of that town, says : Cabo Rojo is 
one of the healthiest towns in the island. The beach of Jaqua or 
Boqueron affords an excellent residence for families seeking sea bath- 
ing, having pure air as well as a delightful temperature. 

SUBDISTRICT OF SAN GERMAN. 

Lieuteilant Hornbrook reports : Sanitary conditions are improving. 

DISTRICT OF PONCE. 

Lieutenant Eames reports: The sanitary condition of the cities is 
much better than it was a year ago, but very much remains j^et to be 
done. Not a city in the district has a sewer system, and latrines or 
cesspools are generally old and in bad condition, although they have 
been cleaned, under the direction of army officers. 

The sanitary outlook is deplorable, and while streets and sidewalks 
are clean and the appearance of the citj' is good, yet in many patios 
are hidden sources of infection and disease that will have to be 
cleaned out before the condition of the city will be anything like 
hygienic. 

The cities are poor and are permitted to raise but 50 per cent of the 
usual taxes, so that it is extremely difficult to get hold of the neces- 
sary-funds for proper cleansing of the city. 

DISTRICT OF SAN JUAN. 

Lieutenant Blunt says : The princi]3al streets of the city of San 
Juan are sewered, but the system does not generallj^ extend into the 
houses. It is the same with the water supply. But as the sanitary 
Improvements considered necessary are introduced the per capita of 
water used will be increased tremendousljT^ and the supply and main 
will both be found too small. The health of the city is good, though 
on account of overcrowding the death rate is above the average. 



MANUFACTURES AND BUSINESS ENTERPRISES. 

DISTRICT OF ARECIBO. 

Captain Macomb reports: 

In the town of Arecibo : Dry goods, 6 ; general supply, 2 ; grocers, 
large and small, 30; restaurants, 4; wines and fancy groceries, 2; 



76 CONDITIONS IN PUERTO RICO. 

butctiers, 10; banks, none (Roses & Co., do a banking business); 
hotels, La Italiano, 2 pesos; Gandias, 2 pesos; a few boarding houses, 
30 i)esos per month ; barbershops, 6; laundries, 3; shoemakers' vShojDS, 
6; shoe store, 1; tailors, -i shops and jobbers; photographer, 1 (not 
permanent); i^rinting office, 1; newspaper, 1, with circulation 250 
per month, at 2 cents; jewelers, none; florists, none; painters, 2, regu- 
lar; contractors, building, 2 firms; markets,* 1; carpenters, 3 shops 
and a few jobbers; hospitals, 2; real estate dealers, none; coffee and 
sugar merchants, 2 firms; hardware, lamps, etc., 2 (from United 
States and Germanj^) ; petroleum (not handled by separate stores) ; 
tanner}^, 1; slaughterhouse, 1; pawnbroker, 1; silversmiths, 2; ice, 
4 centavos X)er libra, from Baj'amon; chocolate manufactories, none; 
fisheries, none; distilleries, 2; breweries, none; sawmills, none; tin- 
smiths, 3 shojjs; blacksmiths, 2 shops; tobacco factories, 2; cigar and 
cigarette factories, 4; cigarette factories, 2; livery stables, 3; under- 
takers, 1 ; cemetery (see list of improvements under cities and towns) ; 
cabinet makers, 2 stores; brick factory, 1; lime kilns, 2; hat stores 
(with dry goods), men's furnishings, not separate. 

DISTEICT OF AGUADILLA. 

« 

Captain Mansfield, under date of May 30, 1899, reports: 
As to manufactures, there are practically none; a few small cigar 
and cigarette factories, that is all, excepting the small distilleries con- 
nected with each sugar plantation. 

There are no business enterprises, unless the coffee-cleaning mills 
and sugar mills (already alluded to) can be called by such a name.^ 

DISTRICT OF CAYEY. 

Captain Foster, under date of June 28, 1899, says: There are a num- 
ber of small cigar factories and wheelwrights' and blacksmiths' shops, 
but no manufactures of any importance. 

DISTRICT OF HUMACAO. 

Captain Dentler says : There are several factories here, principally 
for grinding cane. A Mr. Busso has built a factory for the purpose 
of extracting oil from the cocoanut and starch from the yucca. A 
large corporation has just been formed for the purpose of building- 
central sugar factories in Naguabo and Humacao. Practically all the 
business done is in the sale of sugar, coffee, molasses, and rum. 
These are dry goods, notion, and grocery stores in the towns and cities. 

DISTRICT OF MAYAGUEZ. 

Major Thomas makes a report without date, but probably written 
in May or June, 1899, as follows: The cit}^ of Mayaghez has 1 ice 
plant, cigar manufactory, 3 coffee houses (3 machines for shelling, 
cleaning, and ijolishing coffee), 2 foundries, 3 distilleries for distilling 
rum, 4 manufactories of all kinds of liquor, 2 brickyards, 2 carriage 
manufactories, 1 planing and turning mill, 1 central sugar manufactory^ 
(For other agricultural enterprises, see "Farms and plantations.") 
Hormigueros has 9 large sugar manufactories; Aiiasco, 16 large sugar 
manufactories; San German, 8 large sugar manufactories; Sabana 
Grande, 5 large sugar manufactories; Lajas, 9 large sugar manufac- 
tories; Cabo Rojo, 26 large sugar manufactories. 



CONDITIONS IN PUERTO RICO. 77 

In addition to the manufacturing interests indicated above, Major 
Thomas reports for the city of Mayaguez : 

All kinds of business represented — coffee, rum, sugar, and tobacco; 
mercantile business houses, wholesale and retail; drj^ goods, groceries, 
shops of all kinds, drug stores, small restaurants, liquor sellers, law- 
yers, sailors, hat and shirt makers, dressmakers, shoemakers, wine 
shops, livery stables, watchmakers, jewelry establishments, pawn 
shops, bakeries, tin shops, x)hotographers, butchers, barber shops, bil- 
liard rooms, casinos, and chicken fighters. 

Hormigueros. — Merchants, grocerymen, butchers, and bakers are 
here represented. ; 

Anasco. — Merchants, grocerj^men, and all kinds of business repre- 
sented. Freighters. 

Cctbo Rojo. — This place has several cigar-making establishments in 
the town, besides the usual number of ordinary merchants and busi- 
ness men of all kinds found in a small town. 

The alcalde of Mayaguez, in a report upon that jurisdiction, says: 
Matches, tobacco, cigarettes, chocolate (sweet, natural, preserved), 
etc., are manufactured here on a small scale. The principal trade is 
based upon the imports of American and Spanish provisions, dry 
goods, etc., of the European markets and some of the American. 

The alcalde of Cabo Rojo, referring to that jurisdiction, says (for 
report on distilleries (rum) see "Plantations and farms"): In this 
municipality the following manufactories are found : Cigars, cigarettes, 
chipped tobacco, hats, bricks, walking sticks, lime, alembics (distil- 
leries), and others, it being impossible to state exactly the quantity 
annually manufactured. It can be stated, however, that the most 
important, such as sticks, brick, and lime, not only supply the local 
market, but also Mayaguez and Ponce and other towns and even some 
for export. 

SUBDISTRICT OF SAN GERMAN. 

Lieutenant Hornbrook states: San German jurisdiction has 3 rum 
distilleries, in which about 15,000 gallons of rum are distilled yearly. 
San German has 1 brickj^ard; about 100,000 bricks are made per year. 

About 30 cigar makers manufacture from 3,000 to 4,000 cigars a day 
in San German. 

Sabana Grande jurisdiction has 1 rum distillery, which distills about 
5,000 gallons a year. Some 40 cigar makers, who manufacture from 
4,000 to 5,000 cigars per day. The output of cigars would be greater 
if a market could be found for them. Bricks and lime are also manu- 
factured in this jurisdiction. 

Lajas has 6 rum distilleries, which distill about 25,000 gallons of 
rum per year. Some 300,000 cigars are manufactured yearly in Lajas. 

Cabo Rojo jurisdiction has 11 distilleries, where about 60,000 gal- 
lons of rum are distilled yearly. Seventy cigar makers manufacture 
8,000 cigars a day. Walking sticks are also manufactured here. The 
output of all mentioned industries would be greater if there w^as a 
better market for them. 

DISTRICT OF PONCE. 

Ponce. — Lieutenant Eames reports (May, 1899) : The stores are 
always full of European and American novelties and staples, and 
are excellent in their way; but are deficient in tools and agricultural 
implements. 



78 CONDITIONS IN PUERTO RICO. 

Yauco has two good hotels, a theater, and club, besides many good 
stores. 

Jnana Diaz has a hotel, a few good stores, a cathedral, and a plaza. 

DISTRICT OF SAN JUAN. 

Lieutenant Blunt, under date of May 12, 1899, reports: The enter- 
prises of the city are largely commercial. There are no manufactures 
w^hich more than supply domestic needs, except cigars, coffee, sugar 
and its by-products, molasses and rum. The imports show that all 
machinerj^, implements, materials for clothing, lumber, and groceries 
come from foreign countries. Jusx at present imports from the United 
States are increasing rapidlj^ and European goods losing their hold. 

Carolina. — There is a limited quantitj' of excellent clay in this 
vicinity, with crude means of brick making. 

DISTRICT OF VIEQUES. 

Captain Vance reports: The principal merchants, with one excep- 
tion, are Spaniards, and they keep the prices of everything where they 
want them. There seems to be no commercial honesty about any of 
them, native or S5)auiard, the best of each chargihg wha.t they think 
one will give. There is no public spirit about any of the merchants, 
their sole object being to make what thej^ can out of the situation. 



INVESTMENT COMPANIES AND BANKS. 

DISTRICT OF ARECIBO. 

Captain Macomb makes no report. 

DISTRICT OF AGUADILLA. 

Captain Mansfield, under date of May 30, 1899, says: There are no 
investment companies and no banks in the district. 

DISTRICT OF CAYEY. 

Captain Foster makes no report. 

DISTRICT OF HUMACAO. 

Captain Dentler, under date of May 16, 1899, says: Investment 
companies and banks, none. 

DISTRICT OP MAYAGUEZ. 

Major Thomas reports (about May or June, 1899) as follows: The 
city of Mayaguez has a bank that does a regular banking business, 
besides a savings bank jpatronized by poor people. There seems to be 
a good opening for a bank with solid capital, money commanding 1 
per cent a month (island currency) on all loans, mortgages, notes, and 
money advanced on crop prospects, on the best of securities. The 
merchants themselves do quite a banking business, necessarily, in their 
dealings with the planters and freighters in the country districts. 



CONDITIONS IN PUERTO RICO. 79 

The alcalde of Cabo Rojo, in a supplement to the report of Major 
Thomas says : There is a savings bank that loans money at the rate 
of 9 per cent a year, with a capital of $8,000. 

SUBDISTRICT OF SAN GERMAN. 

Lieutenant Hornbrook reports : The city of San German has a sav- 
ings and loan bank with 60,000 pesos capital. It charges 12 per cent 
per annum on loans and pays 6 per cent per annum on deposits 
Cabo Rojo has a savings bank with a capital of 8,000 pesos; 9 per cent 
per annum is charged on loans. 

DISTRICT OF PONCE. 

Lieutenant Eames reports : 

The Puerto Rican Investment Companj^ of Philadelphia and San 
Juan is the largest and almost the onljT^ investment company on the 
island. They operate the Coamo baths, many brickyards, sugar mills, 
etc., and seem to be in a prosperous condition. 

There are some minor and "wildcat" companies, but they are not 
reliable or permanent. 

The Credito y Ahorro of Ponce is a solid banking concern, which 
does a thriving business with native merchants and planters and with 
the people of Ponce in geueral. 

De Ford & Co., American capitalists, are fiscal agents of the United 
States and have established a banking house at Playa de Ponce. 
There is ample field for both concerns and they are in no sense rivals. 

DISTRICT OP SAN JUAN. 

Lieutenant Blunt reports under date of May 12, 1899: 
There are five large banks and numerous "money exchanges" (in 
San Juan). There are no investment companies actually doing busi- 
ness. There are many prospectors, and companies are now bej.ng 
formed. 



CHURCHES, CHURCH PROPERTY. 

Missions and Missionaries, 
district of arecibo. 

Captain Macomb, in speaking of the island generally, says: The 
Roman Catholic religion is practically the only one represented on 
the island; but religion does not occupy a prominent place in affairs. 

DISTRICT OF AGUADILLA. 

Captain Mansfield, under date of May 30, 1899, says: In each town 
there is more or less church proioerty,, amounting in all to about 
10p,000 pesos. This property seems, in most instances, to be owned 
jointly by the town and church. There are no missionaries other 
than the regular Catholic priests. 



80 CONDITIONS IN PUEKTO RICO. 



DISTRICT OF CAYEY. 

Captain Foster, nnder date of June 28, 1899, says: The diurch 
property seems to consist of the churches and priests' houses only. 

DISTRICT OF HUMACAO. 

Under date of Ma,y 16, 1899, Captain Dentler reports : Church prop- 
erty belongs to tlie corporation of the city. Tliere are no missions, 
or missionaries. 

DISTRICT OF MAYAGUEZ. 

Major Thomas reports as follows: In all the towns the most con- 
spicuous object is tlie churcli, built in former times, very old, but 
kept in good repair. They all belong to the Catholic clergy, but have 
no outside property as far as could be ascertained. It was the custom 
of the Spaniards to support the clergy by fixed salaries. Now what- 
ever support they have depends upon the charitj^ of the members of 
tlie congregation, there not being any other fixed income so far as known. 
No missions, convents, or missionaries; a general apathy prevails 
regarding religion, church matters, and spiritual education, due to 
former conditions and the paramount domination of the Spanish race. 
Church propert}^ not taxed. 

SUBDISTRICT OF SAN GERMAN. 

Lieutenant Hornbrook reports : No reliable information can be had 
about church property. It is not taxed, and it is hard to get at any 
exact data. 

DISTRICT OF PONCE. 

Lieutenant Eames reports : Owing to the confusion attendant upon 
the separation of church and state, many of the churches are claimed 
by both the city and church, and public records have been so kept as 
to render the origin of the city's ownership of land in some doubt. 

Ponce has the only Protestant church building in Puerto Rico. 

It is generally admitted that the title of the Roman Catholic Church 
to the various cathedrals throughout the district is clear, but many 
of the cities still claim the land on the ground that it has always been 
city property. 

The Church of England owns a small but pretty church building in 
Ponce, which will soon be transferred to the Protestant Episcopal 
Church of the United States. Cemeteries are usually owned by the 
cities. 

No mission work except that of the Church of England is being 
done in the district, excepting the regular church work of the Roman 
Catholic Church, which could hardly be called mission work. 

DISTRICT OF SAN JUAN. 

Lieutenant Blunt, under date of May 13, 1899, reports: 
The Roman Catholic Church, the established religion of Spain and 
her colonies, has had complete control at every point of the island. All 
public charities have been controlled by it. The removal of Govern- 
ment financial support and its loss of political power have just now 
weakened and almost paralyzed the church. Until its title to its 
immense landed properties are settled by our laws it feels its strength 



CONDITIONS IN PUERTO RICO. 81 

very uncertain. The cliiircli lias been the government; now its power 
is lost. The buildings in the city of San Juan owned by the church 
are five large churches and several smaller chapels, a small hospital, 
and two asylums; also, a school for priests. 

The Protestant Episcopal Church has established a mission here, 
where regular services are held. No other Protestant church has mis- 
sions. There are, I believe, a Jewish rabbi and a few of that religion. 

At Rio Piedras there is the usual plaza and church. 

The pueblos of Rio Grande and Loiza each have a church. 

Toa Baja has several schools and a church. 



PROFESSIONS REPRESENTED. 

DISTRICT OF ARECIBO. 

Captain Macomb reports for the town of Arecibo : Dentist, 1 ; law- 
yers, 2; doctors, 4; civil engineer, 1. 

DISTRICT OF AGUADILLA. 

Caj)tain Mansfield says : Fifty-seven school teachers, of whom 3 are 
women; 14 doctors, 2 surgeons, 2 notaries, 3 lawyers, 8 priests, and 1 
dentist. 

DISTRICT OF CAYEY. 

Captain Foster, under date of June 28, 1899, says: The professional 
men represented are physicians and lawyers. 

DISTRICT OF HUMACAO. 

Captain Dentler, under date of May 16, 1899, reports: The profes- 
sions represented here are law3^ers, teachers, doctors, chemists, and 

priests. 

DISTRICT OF MAYAGUEZ. 

Major Thomas makes report (probably written in May or June, 
1899), as follows: City of Mayaguez, lawj-ers, attorneys, doctors, sur- 
geons, civil engineers; Anasco, lawyers and doctors. 

SUBDISTRICT OF SAN GERMAN. 

Lieutenant Hornbrook reports : The professions are represented as 
follows : 

In San German : One attorney at law, 5 physicians, 2 druggists, 1 
judge of first instance, 1 municipal judge, 9 school-teachers. 

In Sabana Grande: One physician, 2 druggists, 1 municij)al judge, 
5 school-teachers. 

In Cabo Rojo: Three physicians, 3 druggists, 1 procurator, 1 munic- 
ipal judge, 10 school-teachers. 

In Lajas: One physician, 1 druggist, 1 municipal judge, 4 school- 
teachers. 

DISTRICT OF PONCE. 

Lieutenant Fames reports : In Ponce are architects, engineers, den- 
tists, doctors, oculists, lawyers, and men of nearly every profession. 
13100 6 



82 CONDITIONS IN PUERTO RICO. 

GENERAL OPPORTUNITIES FOR INVESTMENT. 

DISTRICT OF ARECIBO. 

' Captain Macomb, speaking of the island generally, says : 

Tlie f atnre of the island is bright, with its rich' soil and salubrious 
climate. But until Americans, with their ideas, energy, and capital, 
invade the island any decided change will come very slowly. 

The island would seem to offer an ideal spot for fruit cultivation, 
especially of the orange, grape fruit, lemon, and pines. Tobacco of 
an excellent quality also thrives on the island. 

Speaking of the district of Arecibo, Captain Macomb, says: From 
its natural advantages it is believed that the Arecibo district and the 
town of Arecibo offer an excellent field for investment. In the city 
itself a bank is needed. It is recommended that this be a savings 
bank. So soon as confidence in its integrity is established it should 
do well. A small but good American hotel should do well. A dry 
goods store, with general merchandise, should succeed. A good Amer- 
ican doctor and dentist are needed here. 

Fruit growing in the district should bring large returns. 

Especially should this harbor be improved, so that all produce could 
be shipped from this port. 

The guano and phosphatic-rock deposits of Isabela district are 
reported abundant, but I have not seen them. If present in quantity, 
an excellent investment is offered. 

The fruits that would appear to offer a large profit are the orange, 
lemon, cocoanut, and pineapple. 

Large sandy tracts along the coast east of Mantia can, it is reported, 
be bought at present very cheaply and should do Avell for certain fruits. 

It is believed that the following improvements, now (June, 1899) 
being considered for the town of Arecibo, will be secured in the near 
future, viz, an aqueduct, electric lights, and harbor improvement. 

When they have been accomplished and the electric road put through 
to Ponce the town should double in population. 

DISTRICT OF AGUADILLA. 

Captain Mansfield, under date of May 30, 1899, ssijs: 

The opportunities for investment are good if the laws and methods 
of taxation were such as to make an investment safe. 

Under present conditions few care to make investments, for they 
would be annoyed in so manj^ w^ays that they would scarcelj^ be able 
to hold their own, and at present there is a disposition to plunder, in 
some form or other, everyone who has any capital. 

The island of Puerto Rico is, as everyone knows, one of the richest 
and most fertile spots on earth; but its soil, after four centuries of 
occupation, is still undeveloped. What cultivation has taken place 
would scarcelj^ go by that name elsewhere. Modern methods, modern 
implements, and modern machinery will produce great results. But 
the political situation must change before anything can be done. 
(See his report on political parties.) 

DISTRICT OF CAYEY. 

Captain Foster, under date of June 28, 1899, says: There is an 
opi)ortunity for a business investment in establishing an electric-light 
plant and a system of waterworks for the city of Cayey. The Plata 



CONDITIONS IN PUERTO RICO. 83 

River would furnisli the necessaiy water power for the former, and 
the natural features in the vicinity are such that an abundance of 
water can be obtained and supplied to the town by means of a gravity 
system of waterworks. 

DISTRICT OF MAYAGUEZ. 

Major Thomas, without dating his report, states : Mayaguez needs 
a suitable wharf. This should be constructed as soon as possible, as 
upon this depends, in a large measure, the future prosperity of the 
city. 

The opportunities for investment are numerous, varied, and if prop- 
erly managed would certainly jaeld a substantial return on any amount. 
Loan associations, it is believed, would do a good business. Coffee 
and sugar lands could be iDurchased, railways opened, electric-light 
companies formed, and tobacco handled and marketed. 

The rich vega (plain) west of San German at the Bapera is a good 
locality; also the Aiiasco Valley (sabanetas), on the Anasco River. 
Rich land, suitable for sugar-cane cultivation, can be found near 
Mayaguez. 

Cattle can be raised and marketed here at a profit, quite a number 
of cattle being raised in the above vallej^s. Work oxen are always in 
demand and are kept in good condition on the sugar-cane strippings 
and on the native grasses. There seems to be plenty of good grass, 
which maintains its freshness the year around. The best is known as 
the "malgillo," a native product, and furnishes the food for horses 
and cattle, not much grain, if any, being fed the horses. 

The alcalde of Mayaguez, speaking of that city and its immediate 
jurisdiction, says: The establishment of an agricultural bank would 
be a convenience, and a ready market for fruits (produce) would assist 
materially. Spain or Cuba does not consume coffee, as formerly. 

There are several (openings for) enterprises in this town which 
might be mentioned. The most promising one is the foundation of 
an agricultural bank to supply money on long time ; also the estab- 
lishment of mercantile firms with sufficient capital to import the 
necessary provisions and merchandise for the city's consumption. 

The jurisdiction of Mayaguez is important; its healthy conditions, 
the evident progressiveness of its population, and the sources of wealth 
found in its fertile soil make the city an attractive one for business 
or residence purx^oses. 

When an agricultural bank with strong capital is established, com- 
mencing on reasonable terms, with good security, agriculture will 
resume its former activity — it is now almost at a standstill — commerce 
will recover its old-time vigor, and industries will spring up, giving 
abundant opportunities for work among the poor class. 

SUBDISTRICT OF SAN GERMAN. 

Lieutenant Hornbrook reports : It is thought that good loan com- 
panies could do well in this section. Capital invested in water and 
lighting plants would be profitable. Coffee lands are good invest- 
ments, Juana Diaz offers but little in the way of investment. 

DISTRICT OP PONCE. 

Lieutenant Eames, under date of May, 1899, reports: 
Ponce offers by far the best chance of investment of any city on 
the island, or will when the tariff and money questions are settled and 



84 CONDITIONS IN PUERTO RICO. 

Puerto Rico is in a position to offer herself for development and 
investment. 

Guayanilla and Peiinelas are both sugar centers, and aside from 
this oifer little to investors or travelers. 

At present the district offers but little in the waj" of investment, 
because there is no market for the products of the soil and also 
because everything- that is brought in from the United States or else- 
where is verj- heavily taxed, more especially machinery, manufac- 
tured articles, and the like. 

With a tax on his products sent to the United States and another 
on his imj^orts from that country, the planter is ground, as it were, 
between the two millstones of taxation. 

The unstable condition of exchange is another hindrance to invest- 
ors, who find their money changing in value from day to day, and not 
even the President of the United States has been able to fix a uniform 
rate of exchange. 

When these taxes or tariffs are removed and nothing but United 
States currency is in circulation, then will Puerto Rico offer a rich 
field to investors, and the district of Ponce, warm and fertile, stretch 
out her green arms to the world, welcoming in the friendty embrace of 
her deep and ample harbors the ships of the nations of the world. 



SHIPPING STATISTICS. 

ARECIBO. 

Captain Macomb gives the following data from notes of the custom- 
house of Arecibo: 

The following details have been made from the statistics of this 
custom-house for the year 1897, the last complete year in time of 
peace : 

Q. How many vessels touch at this port during the year? — A. From 
foreign ports, 76 vessels; coasting vessels, 191. 

Q. What tonnage? — A. The 76 foreign vessels, 81,031 tons; the 191 
coasting vessels, 32,586 tons. 

Q. What is their cargo's value? — A. Imports were worth $818,621 
Puerto Rican currency. Exports were worth in the island 11,481,- 
770.79 Puerto Rican currency for domestic products. No record as to 
the value of merchandise carried on coasting vessels. 

Q. How many kilos of coffee are produced in the district of Arecibo, 
that of Lares, and other places around this port during the year? — A. 
Two million three hundred and one thousand three hundred and 
fifty-nine kilos have been exported. Five hundred and fifty thousand 
kilos have been carried on coasting vessels to other ports of the 
island, 500,000 kilos have been eonsumed in the surrounding towns. 
Out of this amount it is esiimated that one-third was produced at 
Lares, one-fourth at and around Arecibo, and the balance at Utuado, 
it being the richest coffee place. 

Q. Sugar? — A. Export during the yeav 1897 was 2,301,359 kilos; 
shipped to other ports of the island on coasting vessels, 400,000 kilos. 
Out of this amount four-fifths has been produced in this jurisdiction 
and the balance in the outlj'ing barrios. This item is the chief product 
of this jurisdiction. 



CONDITIONS IN PUERTO RICO. 85 

Q. Tobacco and other products? — A. The exports of tobacco and 
other products have been 97,085 kilos. 

In the above-mentioned year the custom-house gained $226,566.23 
in Puerto Rican currency; in other years heavier sums. At present, 
as the tariff is reduced, it will produce about $50,000, American money. 

Note by Captain Macomb. — In the above estimates the Puerto 
Rican peso is valued at 60 cents, American. The kilo is about 2^ 
pounds. 



INSECTS KNO^A^N IN PUERTO RICO. 

DISTRICT OF AGUADILLA. 

Captain Mansfield submits a partial list, as follows: 

First order, Coleopteras. Fitted month to chew; 4 wings: 
Beetle. Feeds on rotten plants. 
Bumblebee. (Distiscus marginales.) 
Cucubano. {Lampyris noctiluca.) Phosphoric. 
Caculo. 

Cundi. (Reddish color.) The bite is poisonous. 
Second order, Ortopteros. Four wings, 2 flexible and 2 folded: 

Cockroach. {Blatta orientalis.) There are several kinds, among them the 

one with an ash color and the common one with mahogany color. 
Crickets. {Gryllus domesticus.) It is known by the continuous sound it pro- 
duces. Belongs to the same family as the coqui and locust. 
Third order, Neuroptera. Round wings: 

Ant, white ant. ( Termes lucifugus. ) Commonly called come jeu. Lives on the 

trees. 
Lion ant. {Myrmeleon fornicarius.) Lives in caves and mounds built in the 
earth. 
Fourth order, Himenopteros. Mouth fitted to suck: 

Ants. There are several kinds, the principal ones the braves (bravas), the 
fool (bobas), and the ones called berraco and albayarde, or apricot, albari- 
coque. 
Wasp. (Vespa vulgaris.) Thebody is spotted, of black and yellow colors. It 

feeds on vegetable plants. 
Bees. {Apis mellifica.) Blackish color, spacious wings, and the bite is poi- 
sonous. 
Fifth order, Lepidoptera. Sucks by means of a spiral trumpet: 

Butterflies. There are several colors, some diurnal, crespuscular, and noc- 
turnal. "They feed themselves with leaves and flowers." 
Moth. {Fitrea cerella.) They destroy the wall tapestry, cloth, wood, etc. 
Sixth order, Hemipteros. Suckers: 

Includes several kinds. The common ones are the bedbug (reddish color and 
disagreeable odor), flea, jiggers, ringworm (arador), abus, crab louse; and 
besides, we have the tick that feeds itself from animal blood, burying the 
head into the skin. 
Order Arachnida: 

Tarantula. \ 

Spider. 
Centiped. 
Order Dipteros: Two wings. 

Mosquitoes {Culex pipiens) : They are troublesome in damp and warm region. 
Flies: There are several kinds. 
Gnat. 

Experanza: There are those of green and gray color. 
Nadadora seiiorita. 
Order 8: Pardsitos. 

Louse of the head {Podicidus Immanus). 

Small louse. 

Nit: The egg of a louse. 

Luis A. Forregrosa. 



86 CONDITIONS IN PUERTO RICO. 

WILD BIRDS IN THIS DISTRICT. 

Guinea fowl, white head and sardine pigeons, turtle dove, partridge, 
carraos, owl (lechuza), owl, second (mucaros), sorzales, parrots, raven, 
falcon, blackbird, mocking-bird, martin, swallow, sparrow-hawk, finch. 

RIVER BIRDS. 

Yaguazas, cayaretas, Florida ducks, heron, garzones, yaboas, mar- 
tinete (belong to the heron family), putillas, pelicans, gulls. 



CIVIL ADMINISTRATION OF AFFAIRS. 

Major Glassf ord reports : 

The civil administration of the island derived its powers from the 
captain-general, who depended directly upon the Crown. The laws 
which governed the island were promulgated hy announcement of 
decrees in the Official Gazette of Puerto Rico. These laws were in 
part legislative enactments of the Cortes of Spain, in part royal 
decrees, and also simple decrees of the captain-general. Manj^ of 
these laws and regulations were the result of suggestions from the 
captain-general to the CroAvn, upon approval of which a decree was 
issued by the captain-general. 

These decrees were addressed to the alcaldes of the municipalities 
into which the island was divided. To these alcaldes was intrusted 
the execution of the laws and decrees. In 1898 the number of munici- 
palities was 71; now, 69. Each alcalde was aided in his of&cial 
duties by a secretarj^ and treasurer, all salaried officials. In addition 
to these he was assisted by one or more lieutenant alcaldes and a town 
council, the members of which were nominated either directly by the 
captain-general or through an election, and served without salary. 
At present these ofiicials are appointed by the military government. 

The powers of the alcaldes were general, each being a sort of cap- 
tain-general in his district; he was the commander of the town police 
and the fire department, its police judge, controlled the passport sys- 
tem within his district, and could call upon the civil guard in case of 
need; he was likewise responsible for the collection of municipal and 
state taxes, the disbursement of public funds, and the remittance to 
the secretarj^ of hacienda of the part of the taxes belonging to the 
Crown and province. The powers of these ofiicials remain substan- 
tially the same as heretofore. 

CIVIL OFFICERS WITH DUTIES. 

Major Glassf ord reports: 

The civil officers of the island are- divided into two classes, insular 
and local. 

The insular ofiicials comprised secretaries, one of which was lately 
replaced b}^ a solicitor-general; a supreme court, with 7 judges; 2 
criminal courts, with 6 "judges; 12 courts of the first instance and 
instruction (lowest courts of record), with 1 judge each; a bureau of 
public works; a bureau of education, and a bureau of agriculture and 
commerce. The duties of these officials are indicated by their titles. 



CONDITIONS IN PUERTO RICO. 87 

Under these of&cers were numerous assistants, clerks, and attend- 
ants. The annual cost of the maintenance of the government for the 
fiscal year of 1898-99 amounted to 14,457,322, Puerto Rican money, o 
Avhich upward of two millions were devoted to objects that now make 
no call on the insular treasury. 

In accordance with General Orders, No. 114, dated August 7, 1899, 
the courts have been rearranged, but the other officials noted remain the 
same as before. It is understood, however, that further important 
changes are soon to be announced. 



POLITICS AND POLITICAL PARTIES. 

Major Glassford reports: 

In 1870 the status of Puerto Rico was changed from a colony to a 
province of Spain, and deputies to the Cortes at Madrid were elected. 
At this time the political parties in Puerto Rico were the Spanish 
party and the Puerto Rican party, and named, respectively, the Con- 
servatives and the Liberals. From this time practically to the Ameri- 
can occupation the issue between the two parties was the one to elect 
Spaniards, the other to elect natives of the countr3^ 

Owing to the change of status due to the American occupation these 
parties have been reformed and amalgamated into two other parties, 
the Liberal and Republican. The present Liberal partj' is practically 
the old one with the same name with accessions from the former Con- 
servatives, and it advocates complete autonomy similar to that which 
Canada possesses. The Republican party is a new organization, which 
advocates complete political connection with the United States as 
opposed to extreme autonomist ideas. 

DISTRICT OF ARECIBO. 

Captain Macomb, in speaking of the island generally, says : 
The political parties of the present moment are but two — the Lib- 
eral party, of which Muiioz Rivera is the acknowledged head, and 
the Republican party, a sort of aggregation of those members of the 
Liberal party, who from various reasons, were not jjleased with the 
leadershix) of Rivera. 

The former is the one in power, and holds about all the offices. 
The Rej)ublican party represents those who desire the offices. Both 
parties are contented v/ith the fact that the American flag flies over 
them. There is no party or body of men desiring independence for 
the island. 

DISTRICT OF AGUADILLA. 

Captain Mansfield, under date of Maj^ 30, 1899, says (speaking of 
investments) : 

But the political situation must change before anything can be done. 
At jj resent advanceinent and education along modern lines are, in 
my opinion, retarded and opposed through the influence of one man. 

Civil government under present conditions would not only dis- 
courage and X3revent the introduction of new capital for investment, 
but would result in driving out of the island, especially from the 
interior, the capital already invested and which has been invested 
for some years. No American could do more than exist in most 
places. 



88 CONDITIONS IN PUERTO EICO. 

The military government should continue till the two old political 
parties of the island are virtually broken up and new parties formed. 
Changes will then take place gradually. 

From all the information I have gathered during the past ten months 
no one but the politicians want a change from the military to civil 
government till such changes are made in the courts, in the laws, and 
in the system of taxation as will insure equal rights and protection to 
all. Then, I am told, will prosperity begin and continue. At present, 
so far as known, the politicians want to get in power and will then 
continue under civil government the abuses of Spanish rule, with 
themselves in the place of the Spaniards. Under such conditions few 
will care to invest their capital. 

About one thing all are agreed, and with justice, too; that is, that 
there should be free trade with the United States. There is no doubt 
but that the people of Puerto Rico are entitled to that. It will encour- 
age investments and business of all kinds, and if granted will do much 
to satisfy the discontented. 



ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE. 

Major Glassford reports: 

Justice was formerly administered by the following courts: A 
supreme court, consisting of 1 chief justice and 6 associates, located 
at San Juan, which court nearly corresponds to a State or Territorial 
supreme court in the United States.- The 6 associates also constituted 
2 courts of 3 judges each, one being criminal, the other civil, sitting 
in San Juan. To these were added 2 other courts, with 3 judges each, 
having criminal jurisdiction, one sitting at Ponce, the other at Maya- 
guez. These 4 courts, known as audiencia, closely corresponded to 
an American State circuit court. Below these 4 courts were 12 courts 
of first instance and instruction, each having 1 judge. Below the 
judges of first instance and instruction were numerous municipal jus- 
tices, who had jurisdiction over misdemeanors and civil actions to an 
amount not to exceed $200, Puerto Rican money. 

By General Orders, No. 114, Headquarters Department of Puerto 
Rico, August 7, 1899, the courts were reorganized as follows: 

A supreme court, sitting at San Juan, composed of 1 chief justice 
and 4 associate justices, to which is attached a prosecuting attorney, 
representing the state, and a secretary. The island is divided into 5 
judicial districts, whose capitals are San Juan, Ponce, Mayaguez, 
Arecibo, and Humacao. These district courts are served by 3 judges 
each, and to each court is attached a prosecuting attorney and a sec- 
retary. The personnel of these courts consists entirely of native 
Puerto Ricans. The municipal judges remain unchanged, but for 
them will soon be substituted municipal courts, consisting of 1 judge 
and 2 associates. 

The alcaldes continue to act as judges, having a limited jurisdiction 
over petty offenders, like the American police courts. All the courts 
are under the general direction of the military governor, who acts 
through the solicitor-general and a judicial board, consisting of 5 
members, which serves without salary. There is also a provisional 
court of the United States, established July 1, 1899, consisting of 3 
American judges, having jurisdiction over offenses cognizable under 
United States statutes. 



CONDITIONS IN PUERTO RICO. 8^ 

SYSTEM OF LAND TENURE AND CONVEYANCES. 

Major Glassforcl reports : 

It is estimated that about 95 jDer cent of the land of the island is 
held by individuals, and the remaining 5 per cent bj' the state. Titles 
to private land may be divided into two classes, viz, fee simple, com- 
prising, say, 80 per cent of all, and by titulo posesorio. Land held by 
titulo posesorio, or provisional title, is that land held under temporary 
deed granted and certified b}" a judge and registrar and which, after 
twenty years of undisputed holding, transfers the land to the fee- 
simple class. 

The conveyance of land is effected through a registrar and a nota- 
rio ; the conveyor secures a certificate from the registrar as to the own- 
ership, together with a statement of any incumbrances which may 
exist upon said land, and he then appears before a notario empowered 
to draw up deeds and take acknowledgments. The deed is drawn up 
and acknowledged by this official, who keeps the original as a record 
of transfer and delivers a copy to the purchaser. This done, the new 
deed is registered, thus completing the change of title. This method 
of land conveyance closely resembles the so-called "Torrens," or Aus- 
tralian system, and has much to commend it. 

DISTRICT OF MAYAGUEZ. 

Major Thomas makes report, without date, as follows : 
Titles to land were obtained from the Spanish Government- much 
the same as ours, the deeds, mortgages, and sales, whether by x)rivate 
parties, by auction, or the decrees of the court, being recorded, not 
being valid otherwise, the record book being kept at the seat of the 
jurisdiction of the district. Titles to landed j)roperty can be obtained, 
but to ascertain whether or not a title is perfect a critical examina- 
tion would have to be made of the record books, no attention being 
paid to statements made that the title is unclouded, transfers of 
ownerships, mortgages, notes, liens and executions, and ie\aes being or 
having to be made a matter of record to insure the validity thereof. 

The people here are and have been careful of the records, though 
it takes a lifetime almost to get any direct information. 

DISTRICT OF PONCE. 

Lieutenant Eames reports : 

Public records have been so kept as to render the origin of the 
ownership of the cities' land in some doubt and also so as to make a 
report on the manner of entering and holding land difficult. 



TAXATION. 



Major Glassford reports: 

A complete system of taxation of the island has not yet been adjusted, 
but that relating to real estate has been fixed. Taxation upon real 
estate has two divisions — country lands and city or towTi property. 
The country lands are divided into three classes : First, highly culti- 
vable cane, grass, and commercial timber lands, taxed 1 peso per 



90 CONDITIONS IN PUERTO RICO. 

cuerda (0.94 acre); second, fairly cultivable and poor woodlands, 
50 centavos per cuerda; tMrd, poor sandy coast and mountain pas- 
ture lands, 25 centavos per cuerda. The taxes on real estate in the 
cities and towns are assessed upon houses at 8 per cent of the clear 
rent or its equivalent for houses occupied by the owner ; sugar mills 
and coffee driers are classified as town property and taxed one-fourth 
of 1 per cent on the value of the property operated by proprietors. If 
property is controlled by others than the owners, the tax is doubled. 
Vacant town and city lots are divided into three classes according to 
location; those of the first class are taxed 5 centavos, second class 2^, 
and the third class 1 centavo per square meter. Taxes on all real 
estate whose owners reside abroad is increased 50 per cent on above 
rate. 

Exemption from taxation is made upon brick and lime kilns, village 
huts owned by the occupants, churches and cemeteries, sterile lands 
and small holdings of second or third class lands devoted to domestic 
gardening. There are also limited exemptions upon newly drained 
swamxD lands, newly cleared woodlands planted in coffee, and sandy 
lands growing cocoanuts. 

The tax on industry and commerce (liquor, tobacco, etc.) is now 
being readjusted. 

The rate of assessment of real estate is fixed by law, but the classi- 
fication of the property under the law is determined by commissions 
appointed by the councils of the respective districts. These commis- 
sions are divided, like real estate, into two classes, country and town. 

All appeals on the part of the taxpayer are in the first place made 
to the commissions and councils, and the appeal, if not supported, is 
referred to the secretary of finance, who makes the final decision. 

COLLECTION OF TAXES. 

One-half of the land tax is paid to the insular treasury and the 
other half to the district or municipality, each of these halves being 
paid respectively^ at the offices of the collectors of internal revenue 
and at the depositories of the districts. 

Taxation — Assessment, Collection of. 

district of mayaguez. 

Captain Thomas, in a report that is not dated, but probably written 
May or .June, 1899, says: 

City of Mayaguez. — Rate of taxation not known; not yet clearly 
defined and it will not be so for some time, till regulated by future 
orders. 

Hormigueros. — Rate of taxation not known; it belongs to Mayaguez 
for taxation purposes. 

Anasco, San German, Sabana Grande, Las Marias, Lajas, and Cabo 
Rojo : Rate of taxation not known. 

The question of taxes is important as it stands now, and is the result 
of the old sj^stem of taxation. How true it is I do know, that a great 
many owners of small landed property can not pay what is desig- 
nated' as the state tax. This will have to be changed in some way or 
the taxes remitted ; otherwise the people mentioned above will lose 
their properties. 



CONDITIONS IN PUERTO RICO. 91 



EXCHANGE AND CURRENCY. 

Major Glassford reports : The money of the island consists of Puerto 
Rican silver and bills and also United States currency. Puerto 
Rican money, silver and copper, has been issued to the amount of 
5,920,000 pesos, of which 45,000 is copper. Bills of the Spanish Bank 
of Puerto Rico circulate to the amount of 1,794,040 pesos, which bills 
are redeemable in Puerto Rican silver. There is also a bank in Ponce, 
witli a capital of 125,000 pesos, which has in circulation a limited 
amount of bills which have only a local acceptance. 

The United States currency in circulation on the island is variously 
estimated at from one to two million dollars. 

By order of the United States Government, the value of the peso 
has been fixed at 60 cents, United States currency; but while this 
value obtains with the peso. United States currency can not be 
exchanged for Puerto Rican coin or bills at that rate, nor is United 
States currency accepted at this rate in trade or barter, and in some 
localities United States money meets with difficult acceptance. 



SUGGESTIONS FOR REFORMS. 

Major Glassford reports as follows : 

In submitting suggestions for reforms to promote the general wel- 
fare, it may be said in the first place that increased trade relations 
with the United States are of prime importance. Formerly Puerto 
Rican products found their way to Spanish and Cuban markets, both 
of which have been practicallj'^ cut ofE. Any reform that would tend to 
develop trade with the United States would be of benefit to the island. 
A market for sugar, coifee, and tobacco is indispensable. Next in 
order of importance is the improvement or making of roads from the 
interior to the coast, by which the products of the island may be trans- 
ported cheaplj^ to seaports. 

Around the island we have as ports of entry San Juan, Arecibo, 
Aguadilla, Mayaguez, Guanica, Ponce, Arroyo, Humacao, and Fajardo. 
These should be connected by good roads, and from these roads others 
should be built to the agricultural highlands in tlie interior. By such 
a system of communication the loroducer would b^ enabled to reach a 
port always within an extreme distance of about 30 miles. 
/A reduction of the duties on Puerto Rican products entering the 
United States, and also on some American products entering Puerto 
Rico, would facilitate the development of trade relations with the 
United States./ 

It would have for its first effect a greatly increased ijroduction of 
all the principal commodities, and this would give emjDlojnnent to more 
people, increase wages, and consequently enable them to better meet 
the expenses of the government and develop its capabilities. By a 
removal of the duty on Puerto Rican sugar in the United States its 
output would be more than doubled, while a corresponding increase 
would doubtless take place in the coffee and tobacco output. It would 
also be advantageous to remove the existing duty in Puerto Rico on 
machinery and its repair parts that are used in tlie ijroduction of these 
articles. Lumber is also an article of prime necessity, together with 
materials used in the construction of dwellinss. 



92 CONDITIONS IX PUERTO RICO. 

The removal of import dnty on certain articles of consnmption, such 
as codfish, rice, etc., will not, under the existing conditions of retail 
trade, much diminish the price to the consumer, for the present duty 
is very low, and the small amounts usually purchased at one time by 
the consumer deprives him of material benefit. On the other hand, 
the necessary revenue might be obtained by increased duty on many 
articles of luxury and increasing the excise tax, especially on rum. 

It is also well to note that in developing trade relations with Puerto 
Rico due consideration must be given to the peculiar wants and pref- 
erences of the people, who have been accustomed to types and styles 
of goods different to those used in the United States. 

In order to promote closer relations between Puerto Rico and the 
United States and thus bring about increased trade, it would be wise 
to reduce the present postal rates and make them the same as the 
United States domestic rates, thereby facilitating corresi^ondence and 
increasing tlie familiarity, of the Puerto Ricans with the United 
States and its manufactures to the people, following in this respect 
the existing postal regulations between Canada and Mexico with the 
United States. 

Once a market for the i^roduce of the island is found, capital will be 
needed for the development of its resources, and this capital will then 
be forthcoming by loans which will be comx3aratively easy to negotiate 
because of increased security. It is stated that about one-half of the 
5,920,000 pesos of the present circulation is in the hands of individ- 
uals and the other half in bank. This currency should be withdraAvn 
and United States currency substituted, so as to facilitate as much as 
possible our trade relations with this island. 

/Attention is called to the possibility of developing the water power 
of the island, which is very large and valuable. • The constant and 
abundant rainfall throughout the year supplies the rivers, the mouths 
of which are advantageously distributed at comparatively equal inter- 
vals around the island. These rivers coine from the high central dis- 
tricts, have good permanent flow and rapid fall, and may also be utilized 
for irrigation; and there would be small need for large and costly 
reservoirs. This resource in water power is extremely important on 
account of the fact that there is no coal and little other native f uel. / 

It is believed that the above suggestion, if approved, will tend 4o 
promote the welfare of the inhabitants of the island, and that the 
revenues necessary for tlie expenses of the government will be obtained 
from the customs and through an increase of duty upon articles of 
luxury and by an increased excise tax upon rum and tobacco. 



Page. 

Administration of justice 88 

Agriculture — plantations and farms 25 

Agricultural crops 25 

Agricultural products - 20 

Assessment and collection of taxes 89 

Banks 59, 78 

Births, illegitimate - 47 

Bonded indebtedness 73 

Business enterprises 75 

Cable lines 69 

Charitable institutions 25, 60 

Churches and church property 79 

Circular No. 10 ~ 3 

Civic conditions 5 

Civil administration of affairs 86 

Climate 13 

Coal 16 

Coffee 8, 22, 29 

Collection of taxes 90 

Conveyancing, system of 89 

Copper 16, 17, 18 

Crimes 6 

Crops, principal, with markets and value 25 

Currency 91 

Davis, Gen. George W. , letter of transmittal 5 

Distances, table of 53 

Education 49 

Electric lights • 68 

Enterprises, manufacturing and business 75 

Exchange 91 

Farms 25 

Fire department of Ponce 61 

Flowers, domestic and wild, list of 21 

Food 48 

Forest, extent of 18 

Fruits, wild and cultivated, list of 28 

Geographical features 7, 9, 10, 11, 12 

Geology 7,9 

Government relief 45 

Gold 17 

Harbors , 12,54 

Horses 33 

Horticultural crops 25 

Improvements : 

Needed 82 

State of 24 

Indebtedness 73 

Inland transportation facilities 37 

Insects known in Puerto Rico 85 

Investinent companies 78 

Investment, opportunities for 82 

Irrigation 13 

Iron 17 

Islands pertaining to Puerto Rico 13 

Justice, administration of 88 

Land tenure and conveyancing 89 

Lands, public , • 23 

Language 47 

Lighting, electric 68 

93 



94 INDEX. 

Page. 

Lumber 18 

Price of 19 

Marriages 48 

Maps 9,10 

Mineral resources 16 

Mines operated 16 

Missions and missionaries 79 

Money 91 

Mortality 48,57 

Momitain ranges 11, 12 

Municipalities. {See Cities and towns.) 

Opportmiities for investment 82 

Phosphates 17 

Physical features -. 7 

Plantations 25 

Police of — 

Ponce 62 

San Juan 64 

Politics and political parties 87 

Population — • 

Known or estimated 43 

Character of 43 

Ports 12,54 

Post-offices 66 

Power, water, available •. 41 

Prices of products 27 

Professions represented 81 

Public lands 23 

Races represented on island 43, 46, 47, 56 

Eailroads 39 

Eailroad — 

Mileage, constructed and proposed 39 

Stocks - , 39 

Street 55, 67 

Rainfall 13,16,57,71 

Reforms suggested 91 

Rivers 10,11,12 

Rum 30 

Sanitar j^ conditions 74 

Schools 49 

Shipping statistics 84 

Soil, character and products of 8, 20 

Statistics, shipping 84 

Street railways 67 

Sugar 31,35 

Suggestions for reforms , 91 

System of land tenure and conveyance 89 

Taxation - 89 

Telegraph lines ." 69 

Telephones : 60, 69 

Temperature 14, 15 

Timber 18 

Tobacco - 35, 36 

Towns, description of 52 

Transportation facilities 37 

Treasuries 24 

Trees 18 

Tropical fruits 26 

Vital statistics 47 

Wages. 6, 43 

Water power, available 41 

Water supply i 71 

Waterworks 71 

Weather Bureau 13 

Wheat .- 33 

Woman's Aid Society 65 

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